Page 27

Subconscious Everetta

It was dark—a cold, barren landscape of nothing but emptiness. Bending down, I reached out, touching the cool, obsidian-like sand. I watched as the small grains slipped through my fingers. Looking up I smiled, this was perfect. It was exactly where I—where we needed to be.

Looks like I did it. My consciousness should be here somewhere. The only problem now is to find her.

Tracking across the grounds in my gold strap lace-up sandals, I stared bitterly across at the contrast between my present self and me, the past.

She doesn't understand. How can she? She doesn't have her memories. She's gone through so many different experiences. She doesn't know the realm like I do. She was still able to cling to her naivety. She was too trusting, innocent, or as innocent as one could be growing up in the Fae Realm.

Magics, what has Eli done?

Honestly, I'm always the one cleaning up his messes.

In a situation with Aki, leave it to Everetta to fix it. A problem with a spell, leave it to Everetta. Need a bargain to be made, Everetta you're up. I always helped him; I trusted him, to some extent. Ok fine I didn’t but, I never would have expected him to do this . I mean the man stole my memories. That was a total invasion of privacy!

Magics, what did he see?! Shit, I hope he didn't go too far down the rabbit hole that is my mind. I do not need those secrets coming out anytime soon. If he found out I dressed as a man once to go to a ball, Eli would have an aneurysm.

Speaking of aneurysms I’m shocked I didn't have one, ok maybe they aren't that related but they’re both deadly. The thing is, with us fae—rumor has it that a fae without their mates for an extended time would go mad, and not in the red angry sort of way. More like the crazy kind. It's a good thing I didn't go insane, not like that man I have to call father, the Mad Prince of the Griffin Court, who left his crown and daughter to chase a ghost, who abandoned his family and responsibilities to flee after a commoner with no origins.

Why wasn't I impacted? For one I wasn't bonded yet, whereas my sperm donor was. Since he was linked, he lost his mind; drowned in magic and love. He went insane trying to find something he could never have again. Deep down I think he knew that if she didn't want to be found that egg donor of mine wouldn't be. So instead of staying with what was left of his union with his bonded, he left. He went off on some grand adventure to find a fae he wasn’t even sure was alive or not.

He should have stayed to care for the one he did know lived. Curling my hands into a fist I took a deep breath in. The past was in the past, besides it wasn't as if I didn't have a parent. I was lucky the queen took me in and gave me all the necessary teachings I needed to survive.

Now, where was she? I need to find the conscious side of me or in truth the side Eli's molded into his little marionette doll.

Besides Eli couldn't have been planning that right? He wouldn't keep me from Fletcher, right? He knows what that could do to me. I just don't understand his train of thought sometimes. I mean I know he was grieving but what in the world could he be thinking in trying to hold my memories from me? Couldn’t he have, like, grieved by not backstabbing me?

Faintly in the distance, I spotted a small glowing light. There she was, my conscious self, the petite ray of hope in the vast empty void that was my mind. She was so small, so fragile, her blond locks glowing, her piercing eagle-like eyes glowing preternaturally in the dark.

Hmm, how should I approach her, I mean she was me in a sense so should I just jump-scare her? It would certainly catch her attention.

Then again I would probably kill the fae who tried to jump scare me. Probably best not to startle the magic out of the girl then.

Tapping lightly on the little girl's shoulder—on my other side's shoulder- I watched as her golden hair and just as golden eyes gazed back at me. Smiling as I waved a little, like how I did to one of the orphans I played with back when I was still a saintess, way back in my first life, I knelt down to her eye level. My smile nearly slipped as a flicker of blue seeped into her gaze.

I guess this side of me still has a ways to go in terms of controlling her emotions and magic.

"Hi, there. My name's Everetta, what's yours?" I asked plastering the gentlest smile I could plaster so as not to startle the girl.

"I- My name's also Everetta. Miss, what are you doing here?" She questioned back as I smiled back at her, my face showing none of my true intentions for finding her.

"As sharp as always I see. I'm here to guide you silly, to show you all your memories, to bring them back to you." I gently soothed, needing to let her see them herself so that I could go back. I needed both my conscious side and, me, my subconscious side, to be on the same page for this spell to work. Hopefully when she finally remembers, maybe our mindsets will return to the same page.

"You're the being who was in my mind." She stared looking back at me, weariness in her eyes. Her hands gripped onto the black sand as if not willing to take my offered one. I sighed looking back at her but nodded.

"Yes, in a sense I am like your memories. I was trying to get you here so that you would remember again. I'm sorry if I scared you. But you need to remember. Don't you want to remember?” I was careful not to show the urgency in my voice as I spoke. It’ll make me appear even more shady than I already was. I offered my hand toward her praying she grabbed it. I waited with all the patience of a saint I had left in my black heart for her small hands to grip on.

I waited and waited watching as she bit down on her lower lip. She seemed to stare at my outstretched palm like it was a weapon and not the saving grace it was.

Finally, with some hesitancy, her tiny little child hands took mine nodding, trusting me. Beaming I guided us towards the swirling vortex of golden blue light. And off we went.

There stood a girl, a teddy bear in her hands, its slightly worn blue striped tie and brown fabric wrinkled in age. Her glowing strands blew in the wind as her golden eyes looked out towards the castle gates. Tilting back and forth on her heels she pondered when her father would return. It's been five sun cycles, and her mother, though not by blood, said he would return today. Yet, the sun set and rose, and there she stood waiting. But he never showed, he never would.

"Sweetheart, wouldn't you like to come in? I heard you didn't go to bed last night.” A woman with golden curls as bright as the little girl's, almost a mirror contrast, smiled warmly; the knowing look in the woman's eyes never deterred the girl though.

The little girl always waited.

Eternally, the little girl stayed there on the same stairs waiting for a man she hoped would come back. Back then the little girl didn't understand how the realm worked.

Shaking her head, the girl smiled more brightly than ever, "Nope! He'll come today, I just know it!"

With a thin smile and small sigh, the woman nodded, turning to head back into the big golden warmth of the castle. Its blinding glow was visible even in the darkest of nights. The little girl wouldn’t know of the castle’s shine; she'd fallen asleep numerous times on the steps of the castle.

Wanting to be the first to greet her father back the girl weathered the harsh howling winds, the crippling heats of the Summer Court, and even the constant sneers and belittlements she's gotten for being a hopeless fool just like her father.

During that time the only concrete thing that managed to always show up was the plates of warm meals, cookies, and tea that arrived from the queen’s personal maids.

Her hair grew longer, her clothes got bigger, seasons changed, and there she waited, she sat, she frowned, but she waited clutching that small rag that was supposed to be a stuffed bear. Its eyes fell loosely off its sockets, its sides popping out with stuffing in some places.

The woman, the queen, smiled softly as if knowing she could never deter the little girl, away from the small hope she clung to. Despite the wet pillows and sheets, the damaged gold wallpapers, and the white furniture each year, the woman never once told the girl to stop.

"Why won't he come?" The little girl thought but she never dared to voice those thoughts aloud for fear of the answer. An answer she already knows.

She's heard the rumors, the gossip, yet, she was a child, a hopeless, foolish, ignorant child. Too deep in her own delusions that she fell for her futile yearnings.

One year, there was a boy, his hair as golden as hers, but his eyes were as cold as frost, it sent shivers down the girl’s spine. She was supposed to entertain him for the day; show him around the castle but she couldn't, not if she wanted to possibly greet her father.

She left the boy alone, too excited by the possibilities of her fruitless hope . But he never came, the sunset and the cool air chilled her to the bone, but she still waited, like always.

Her hope never dimmed, even if she began to question.

Why hasn't he come yet?

Were the rumors true?

What if he never comes?

So many questions plagued her mind but the little girl chose to ignore them all. She was a fool. She should have heeded the warnings of the servants. She should have never lowered her standing for a man like the one who helped give birth to her. She should have gutted him when he finally dared show his face.

"What are you doing?" The boy with eyes as cool as ice asked, his voice all haughty and arrogant for a bastard child. The girl heard it, the whispers spread by the maids, by the fae and humans she came across.

The boy with hair as light as a lion's mane was a bastard child. In a way, the girl and boy were very similar. Perhaps that was why they got along so well, or that's what the girl led others to believe. After all, she was not her mother's daughter, not really, not by blood. At least, he had his father's blood, so he wasn't a complete outcast like the girl.

"Waiting," the girl kicked her legs side to side, staring at the golden leaf-embroidered barred gates.

The boy seemed dissatisfied with that answer. His face twisted into utter disgust, for he too heard the tales about her. Abandoned by her parents and taken in by the queen, though she was treated as the queen's daughter, everyone knew who she really was—an abandoned urchin of the Foolish Prince the Mad Prince . The man who left his castle for a siren, the worst of the worst of fae kind. The lowest of the lowest, and the little girl carried half of that siren's blood.

True they may have been the most stunning fae alongside their underwater counterparts but the sirens of the sky were wanderers. They were tribal nomads who gained their wealth in the bedroom. In a court as regal and defined in reputation as the Griffin Court, the Sirens were outcasts, mockeries of their lineage.

"Why? You know he's not coming." the boy said frankly. The boy also heard stories of the frivolous girl. A girl who waited despite everyone knowing that the abandoned prince would never come back. A girl who did whatever she wanted whenever despite her reputation and standing. A girl who was unfit for the queen's favor and mercy.

Silence.

The girl didn't know why; she heard the servants talk, she heard what everyone thought, even the kind maid, who was fired not long after she told her.

"Young Miss, why do you always wait? You should focus more on your studies instead. It would help take your mind off the topic," the kind maid, with bright green hair, advised her. But she always ignored all of them.

For some reason, she couldn't ignore the boy. She couldn't shake off his comments like she normally would with any other. A boy who spoke to her when no one else her age had ever spoken to her before. They were all too scared to be associated with the abandoned disgraceful princess. The pitiful bird whose wings flew south not north. Who's mother was a courtesan, a siren, a pretty little songbird.

Tears started rolling down the girl’s bright rosy cheeks as all the comments hit the little girl at once. All the sneers, all the mocking words behind her back, the constant pitiful glances as if they all knew something she didn't. But she did know. The little girl did know the truth, that her father would never come back not for her, not for the court, and never without the Siren. He'll stay away in his trance to find the girl's mother. She knew that until he had the bird back by his side he, the Foolish Prince , the Mad Prince , would never step foot back inside the castle.

Maybe it was the fact that someone her age finally spoke to her, or perhaps it was the fact that she found some kind of kinship with the bastard boy that tears began rolling down her chubby rosy cheeks. That the truth finally penetrated her thick head.

"H-He'll come, I know he will. He's my daddy; he has to come, he has to come get me," her lips quivered, catching the boy off guard. But the girl stood tall, her golden eyes firm, convinced by her desperate hopes . For some reason, the boy felt a connection to her, maybe because of their background, but he felt linked to her in a way he’d never felt with anyone else. Perhaps it was because he was the eldest, but his court never treated him the way hers did towards their princess. The servants never dared speak behind his back, his family invited him in, but hers—they gossiped and whispered of how ignorant she was. They gossiped about her foolish father, of her lower Siren blood, even if it was half. Worst of all was her temper. Or perhaps it was because they were just jealous of her powers that they did all those nasty things to the little girl.

All the small bugs found in her bed set up by her servants. The missing jewelry from her drawers and cabinets. The outdated clothes she wore. The little girl never minded of course, because she never cared, she longed for her father to take her away so that she too might join him in his adventures. But he never did.

Even at a young age, the girl held a vast amount of magic, so great it might have even triumphed over the boy’s. The girl always knew why the boy had wanted to be her acquaintance, it was so he could gain a powerful ally.

So to solidify this bond of friendship the boy sat by her side and waited for a man that would never come.

"Don't cry; it'll make your face ugly," the boy blatantly said as all children do, handing over his bright blue handkerchief embedded with sapphires and diamonds.

But then the day came. It was so unexpected, so odd, that the whole castle was astounded. The foolish prince had returned. Without a single glance over toward the golden-haired girl, whose silky strands looked so much like his, whose features were practically the female version of his, he strode past her.

No, this man was nothing but mad.

The Mad Prince stormed past the wide-eyed children by the steps to the grand castle, the boy and girl couldn’t believe their eyes. It was him, the forbidden prince, the one that left to chase a beggar, a siren.

"Daddy. Daddy!" The girl pleaded desperately trying to capture the wide-eyed insane man's attention. She ran past the shocked boy, his stunned face, and open mouth hung a gap at the scene before him.

The little girl was too small to keep pace with her so-called father's strides. Her tiny little legs raced to match his long determined strides. By the time she had caught up to the mad prince he was in a heated argument with the queen, the little girl’s mother in every sense of the word but blood. Her hands clenched the small ragged arms of the thing she called a teddy bear as she eavesdropped. She didn't mean to but she had learned from her mother that she couldn't ever interrupt fae when they were having conversations, it was rude. The girl didn't want to leave either, in case she missed a chance to speak with her father.

"Where is she?! I know you did something to her! You've always hated her; you’ve never approved of our relationship. You’ve hated Serafina ever since she entered the castle."

The queen, her golden hair a symbol of her royal status, smiled bitterly at the Forsaken Princes' words.

"And what of your daughter? Does she not deserve to see you? She had been waiting for you, you know.... She needs a father," the queen finally questioned, her eyes glowing brightly, she had the same traits as the girl when she was mad, both their eyes illuminated with light from rage.

"Oh please, I don't give a damn what you did to that urchin, I want to know about Serafina. Where is she? I know you did something to her!" The man bellowed for he was truly mad now. Consumed by his thoughts, he was now only a fractured soul, searching for something that would never come back. Perhaps the little girl and her father were not that different after all. Both were fools to their emotions, too consumed by their desperate foolish hopes. He searched and searched. Traveled across hundreds of realms, and traversed every land he could walk on. But he still could not reunited with his love, his mate, his fated pairing.

The queen sighed," I don't know, all I know is that your daughter needs you." The queen’s words were calm, pleading as she reached out a hand as if in comfort for the Foolish Prince, her younger brother. But the man knew what his sister, the so-called queen truly wanted. He jerked away, away from her clawing hands, her soothing touches, “I don't care ! How many times must I tell you, that little urchin is none of my business, what is important is what you did to my Serafina! For all I know you've already turned her into a mini you. I mean just look at her; she is nothing like my Serafina!” For a second the queen's face twitched, a proud little tilt of her lips curled up. If you weren’t looking closely you couldn't even tell that the regal queen had just smirked.

The man, the Foolish Prince was pacing across the room almost in a frenzy as he swerved his glare back onto the queen, "She has golden eyes just like you. She is just as greedy, just as-"

"How dare you; she is not an urchin, she's just a girl who needs her father. Can't you see that she is yours and Serafina's daughter? Her attitude is all too much like yours. Always hoping, dreaming . She is your daughter so-"

The man slammed his fist down against the great oak table hovering near the window at the far end of the room, where he now stood. His manic eye searching, never really landing on one place. He was shaking now, violent trembles rocking his body. As if his body was no longer his own. The little girl stared back at the small dent, it now held the exact mold of the Foolish Prince’s fists.

" I. DON'T. GIVE. TWO. DAMN. SHITS. WHAT. THE. FUCK. THAT. LITTLE. brAT. DOES! She is nothing to me; all that matters is Serafina! That girl is not my daughter, and she never will be. I won't be reminded about what I've lost. I'm not going to stay here and watch over something that she left behind, a thing that nearly killed her. I just won't. Fuck it, I'll find Serafina on my fucking own; coming here was a waste of my time. I should have known you wouldn't give me anything. I don't know why I even came back." With that, the man stormed away. But before his dirt-stained pants could get past the entryway the girl had to foolishly try.

At first, it was tentative, like a small toe dipping in to test the waters. “Daddy?”

Then braver, as if trying to ignore that whole conversation would somehow change the man’s mind, “Daddy, your back I knew you'd come back for me-”

Maybe it was a good thing that the Foolish Prince halted for the girl that day. A great thing that he came back to visit that day because the look the man threw back at the little girl could incinerate any fae with its hatred.

Since then, the girl has never once waited by the gates. The girl stood frozen, staring in shock not even noticing that tears had begun to stream down her rosy cheeks. However, the boy did. He’d passed her his small blue handkerchief to help wipe her tears. That was the last day the girl waited for the Mad Prince.

Darkness...

Nothing but empty darkness... then light.

The girl was there again, this time she was alone, no one to comfort her sorrows away. She stood outside that same door, the golden gates mocking her with their shine as her world kept losing its glow.

"She is not my daughte r , nor is she yours! It's time we sent her away," the man in a pristine, golden-embroidered tailored chiton squawked, his annoyance clear.

He was talking with the queen, his wife. Although their marriage had been arranged the man loved his queen, just not her actions. Yes, he loved her for her beauty, grace, and power, as all fae seemed to do. Like moths to a flame, fae, especially the Griffins, loved those with power. The more the greater the appeal they seem to draw. The queen was said to have a line of suitors that stretched the whole realm. After all, those who contained so much magic shone like the bright lights of the suns, as the queen used to tell the small girl.

"Keep your voice down," the queen snapped back, a voice the girl had never heard her use before. The queen, though the girl could only see her back, exuded power with those words. The golden ivory that cascaded from her hair resembled feathers from an angel or the edges of daggers.

"She is my daughter, and she will remain mine until I say so. You needn’t do anything. As I have told you before; I prefer you keep your presence away from her," the queen scolded, as if the king was nothing but a political figurehead, which the girl supposed he was. The queen was the one who had the last word in any conversation, meeting, and document.

The little girl was confused. What did the queen mean, stay away from her ? She liked the star gazing and little adventures the man had used to take her on. Until, the man started hating her too, like everyone else in the castle.

Now a little older, the girl had learned how to use her magic; she knew things others did not, but as to the words that the queen spoke, she knew not of. What did she mean? She didn't have to say that. Sure, her adoptive father wasn't always there for her, but well, he was still there, and she was happy.

"I've been trying," the man’s gaze seemed almost venomous as he glared at the back of the queen as if...

No, that thought was preposterous. Better to shake the feeling off now the girl thought, physically shaking her head as if that would help to expel the thoughts streaming through her mind.

"The whole court has been saying you would hand over the crown to that girl, who has no ties to the royal-" In a flash, the man's words were cut off with a single glare from the queen, her eyes like the golden moon in the night, demanding attention, demanding power.

The little girl had always loved those glowing eyes. The sharp golden hues were as if lightning charged behind them. She hated her own eyes, she wanted them to look much more like the queen’s. The little girl was still mastering control of her magic, and soon her eyes would glow just as brilliantly golden as the queen’s.

"No royal ties, you say? No ties? Please, if she was but a mere peasant, do you truly think I would have kept her? Make no mistake; she will be my daughter, and yes, she will succeed me. If your own flesh and blood cannot show the aptitude that she can, why should I simply hand the throne down to that girl? Hell, if she could show even a fingernail worth of as much power as my true daughter then I would give her the crown. But that daughter of yours is nothing but a small mouse compared to the Griffin that is my daughter. Now, darling, do make yourself useful and go find her, my real daughter." With a glow of her eyes and a flick of her brows, the man nodded, turned, and left, passing the girl that was hidden in the shadows. She'd never heard the queen sound so disgusted before as she sneered down at the mention of her elder sister. The little girl knew logically they were cousins, but in her naive heart she had considered them sisters. She still considered the bright strawberry blond-haired girl her sister. She was the one who always shared her treats with the girl when she was younger. Protected her from the scrapes and bruises that would mark her skin if she fell. She taught her the cool little spells. Like making flowers bloom, or how to fly in the air. Yes, they were the most basic of spells any fae could do but the little girl liked them. Especially that flower spell, she loved that one.

The vision faded, and in came a boy with eyes much like the first, the only difference was the hair, but the features were so familiar.

He had crystal blue-white hair, almost like snow. Upon a closer look, their eyes were different too. The girl had thought the other boy’s, Eli’s, eyes were like ice but compared to this boy it was more snow-white blue than electric ice-blue.

"Thank you, I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare you just looked so-" he falsely stumbled, his words were clearly false. She'd sensed his presence from a mile away. She'd seen how he'd captivated those other girls in the town square of the Wolf Court. Was he trying to ensnare her too? The girl really didn't have the time for it nor did she want to play his game, not when she had one with Lucarious. She had to deal with this fallout first, or else the queen wouldn't be very pleased with her. She hated disappointing the queen, her mother. If it wasn't for this damned situation that red dead fae tossed onto her, the girl would have gladly played along. But as it was this would only cause more wreckage in the future, what with her title of saintess on the line. She can't very well be seen courting another man when she just got dumped. Oh, how she will get Lucarious back for that.

"Please, don't waste your breath. I'm really tired today, between your brother's damn hassling about etiquette and elegance, and my queen's damn hounding about impressions and reputation. I'm about drained from the day. Don't get me wrong, I love them both but for magic's sake, they're both just so annoying. Don't do that, do this, not that, take this, wear that, don't eat that, honestly, if it was up to me I would have run away by now. I don't even give two shits about the crown. All I want is a nice simple life, is that too much to ask?" The girl said needing to get it off her chest. And if she was right this boy was just the younger brother of her friend. Her “ best friend ”, sure. If she was correct this boy before her harbored some hatred towards her friend. She supposed fighting for the crown would do that to siblings, just look at what happened between her and her sister. Now they can't pass one another without her dear elder sister glaring daggers across the room. Which is why alcohol is perfect for this situation right now.

Unfortunately, it didn’t do much for her as the girl needed quite a lot to get her drunk. Still, it was better than nothing as the girl chugged the bottle of fairy wine. It tasted pretty nice, which was to be expected seeing as that redhead Lucarious always kept the best of wine at his events. Though the girl didn’t call him redhead because his hair was naturally red, no, it was because of the amount of blood he literally always bathed in.

"If it wasn't for the queen's wishes I wouldn't even be here.” The girl began before chugging her wine.

“Hell, this whole thing was Lucarious’ idea. The whole reason I'm in this damn societal mess is because I lost a fucking coin flip. Coward, he fucking knew he couldn't beat me. And you know-" The girl said remembering that day the hot-tempered redhead, whose rage could rival hers, challenged her to a game of coin flip. Ok, so maybe he was also called redhead because of his temper.

Magics if the girl knew this was going to be the favor she would have refused but a fae must keep their bargains no matter what, even if it was in the form of a favor.

A bargain is a bargain. There were three very important rules in the Fae Realm that all fae had to obey. It was written in their genetics and the air around them. One, no fae can tell a lie, at least not verbally. You can evade, say something that sounds like the truth but not, as long as it was not a lie that spewed from your lips anything was ok. Two, a bargain no matter what form it comes in is a bargain. If you do not complete the bargain the fae will suffer immeasurable loss. Whether it be death or something tragic would depend on the weight of the bargain.

Say if the bargain was for you to eat steak but you didn't then perhaps you can no longer eat your favorite dishes. They would magically turn into something else because of the bargain you just broke. Or perhaps you broke a bargain about not handing over the crown to your friend or sibling. Maybe it was about not fighting in a war with them. Then in turn you would lose your life or be as broke as a mule for the rest of your fae existence. It frankly depends on the bargain and how heavy the weight of it is.

Finally rule number three, the magic of the realm must be linked to the source. If the blood is too diluted then the blood is tainted. Each court had a ruling class, whether it be Mermaids or Wolves, Griffins or Chimera, Sphinxes or Phoenix es. They must contain the blood of the realm. Which was another reason why the girl or her sister had to take the crown.

The girl and boy had a nice chat, or so the girl thinks before her friend came storming around searching for her through the garden of the desert castle. That was when the idea hit the girl. Why did she have to suffer alone? Why not teach the redhead a lesson only she could map out? So she plastered herself to her friend's younger brother, tears streaming down her face as if she had been crying all that time. Just as she had calculated the young boy with his calculating eyes played along with her little scheme.

Oh, how the girl liked this boy. She loved those who played along and grasped the situation without having to be told much.

Soon enough her friend seized six lands in her name from the red-headed bastard. That will show him not to mess with the girl. Who did he think he was to just dump her like that, favor or not. It didn't mean the girl couldn't seek retribution for the bargain.

The clouds swirled wrapping around the girl and her friend before everything faded once more....

The boy wouldn't understand; she knew that but she needed help. So she turned to someone who could aid her in her last attempt, who would understand, hopefully. The girl turned and asked the younger brother of her “ dear ” friend.

In time they had found her, the girl's birth mother, whom the girl had still held some small tiny shred of hope to reconnect with at the time. So they left in search of the girl's mother and her supposed whereabouts. It was odd how she was able to find her birth mother before her birth father ever could despite his undying longing for her love.

It was this encounter that shifted the girl's delusional mind, her fantasy of a happy family . After what her birth mother did to the girl, her views on the realm had completely tilted. That night against the pouring rain in that dingy alley behind some shop or another the girl got what she went there for. To extinguish that remaining light of hers.

For she had found her mother or her mother had found her. After months and months of trying to find her mother, she had finally sensed her. Maybe it was because of the blood coursing through her body that she found her mother so easily. The girl knew she should have asked more questions but instead, she never questioned, how it was that she was able to find this woman so easily when her sperm donor couldn’t.

She stumbled out into the drizzling rain, its tender wet kisses dripping against her cheeks as she raced down the alley. Into each small dark crevice of the Winter Court. Why did she find her mother in the Winter Court of all places?

Why here?

Again the girl knew she should question this, she knew she should, but she didn't. That was her flaw, she was too driven by her emotions. Clouded by her feelings, by her heart, when it came to these matters. But after this fateful day, she no longer yielded against the strains of her need for family , for support. She took what she could get. She learned to never have such foolish hopes again. She trained to be perfect.

Rushing out of the snow-haired boy's research lab, not knowing that the boy had followed her, the girl chased after the remnants of her birth mother’s magic.

There she was. The bright blond-haired girl's mother, her glowing golden waves such a contrast to the woman's midnight navy blue hair in the middle of the cobble-stoned alley. The woman’s hair was like that of a bird, ready to flee, each strand stood up in the air like how the girl would look when she was using too much magic. If the girl's eyes were like the radiant glow of the suns when shone, the woman’s were like the light of the moon guiding sailors to their doom. The mother and daughter duo couldn't look more different but for the curves of their full slightly heart-shaped lips that seemed almost ripe for the picking and their round plump cheeks.

The girl knew she should have shared more features with the woman, who was her birth mother, but the girl didn't want to. She preferred the adored features of her true mother, the queen. Her true mother was loved by all, admired by many, and above all she never abandoned the girl.

Still, the girl foolishly hoped that maybe one day the woman would be able to become her mother again.

The girl needed that part of her to die.

"Mother," the girl whispered as the woman, who seemed no older nor younger than the girl herself, frowned.

"What are you doing here?" Her words were as sharp as the beak of a bird, but that didn’t deter the girl.

"I-I was just," answered the girl, trying for all in the world to sound confident. But, the only sound that left her was of an abandoned damaged little girl. The weak, fragile doll, everyone thought she was. The saintess with no real dignity.

The woman narrowed her eyes as if in disgust, muttering to herself, "She told me she'd keep you away."

"Well, what?" The woman asked more loudly this time as she glared daggers back at the girl. Her ire could be felt a mile away. The woman had been annoyed by this mere conversation, by the girl's audacity to find her. As if the woman hadn't given birth to the girl standing but ten feet before her.

"I-I," the girl stuttered, having forgotten what she craved to ask, for she saw it, their resemblance, and their power.

The girl's mother was powerful too, for she also had a great destiny before her. Unfortunately, fate was never kind to the girl and the Fae Realm was even worse than fate.

"We want to know why you left her," the snow-haired boy spoke for the girl, who was too in shock to speak. The boy threw back those very daggers at the woman, his eyes just as full of animosity towards the woman who had given birth to the girl he loved. The snow-haired boy never understood how the girl could love a fae like the woman before them, but he also knew why she would. If that made any sense.

"Left her? I never wanted her in the first place. She is a monster , just look at her; she can't even control her powers," the woman sneered, her nose scrunched in disgust as the girl felt around herself, stretching her magic, only to find it was already extended. Encircling her in a shower of golden light.

How, when? The girl was puzzled; she didn't remember putting out so much magic.

Staring down at the small puddle below her mud-soaked feet, the girl realized her eyes had been glowing, and not completely with the golden hue she had intended to exhibit for her eyes. Blinking rapidly she quickly changed her irises back, to resemble that of the Griffin Queen's. The girl couldn't lose control, she just couldn't. She has to show her worth to her birth mother, because then maybe just maybe she might stay.

The woman scoffed more, "I nearly died because of this urchin . She should have never been born; she is an abomination to all races. I should have suffocated her before her first breaths."

The girl couldn't hear the boy's words as she stared at herself in the puddle below her; her eyes, why weren't they changing back? They had to, she had to make them. Wet droplets kept dripping down rippling at the puddle below her feet. Were they her tears or was it the rain? The girl couldn't tell.

"So what? That just means she's unique and that you're weak. If you were strong enough you wouldn't have needed to struggle with her birth," the boy‘s seething rage was clear in the frost coating the walls of the alley. The icy chill to the air cast a mist of frozen steam blanketing around them.

"Strong? You call that strong?" The woman questioned, gesturing to the girl. Her sneer wrinkled the woman's petite round nose.

"She is a monster; she was never supposed to be born. She will only bring chaos and havoc to the world; that is her purpose. Do you even know what it takes to give birth to a siren? There's a reason why we are so limited in this world, and it's not because of your kind. Birthing a siren means giving up one's life, for a siren draws in power, they take and never give, and an infant like her, who had no control and still doesn't I see, will only destroy this world. I was strong enough, I lived after she tried to kill me. So let me return the favor ." With those venomous words spat between them, the woman let go of her magic completely.

The rain suddenly halted in mid-air as if time had stopped. The droplets’ crystal-like tear-drop shape spun, all of them pointed toward the girl and boy like knives headed straight for them.

"Everetta!" The boy screamed as the hurdle of raining swords pierced right at them.

There was nothing the boy could do; he lacked magic. As the crystal-like points of water cut through their skin nicking their face, arms, and legs. Ripping through their soaked clothing. Dampening their already muddied attire into a stain of red.

The girl felt it, the havoc that was about to burst from her. She already knew her mother never liked her; she knew. She was told so by the queen. Yet, she still foolishly hoped , and that hope was her downfall.

What did she expect her mother to say? That she was sorry? That she had no choice? That she wanted to give the girl a good life that was why she left? No, she could have lived a happy life without abandoning the girl. The woman could have been the one to train the girl in magic. Instead, the girl had ventured to a place no fae should traverse to learn about her magic.

The woman’s sole gift toward the girl was seducing a prince and giving her life. So why else did the woman leave the girl, it had to have only been hatred. Why, why did everyone hate her in this realm? Why does everyone betray her? The queen was right she should have never sought out her mother. No, not her mother, the Siren that shared her blood, and only that.

Her sympathy destroyed, her mind cleared, the girl was finally able to think properly.

The girl paused the shower of sabers mid-air. Flipping her raised hand downward as the pellets dropped clinging against the stone tiles like small glass jewelry. It was a testament to the woman's magic that the glass shards didn’t shatter as they slammed down. The girl's golden light magic covered her and the boy in a small dome, protecting them from further harm. But just as the girl made a move to strike the woman down, her rage at the boy having been put in danger clearing the girl's sorrow, the woman was gone. With utter fear in her eyes, the woman had fled in the tiny second the girl took to launch her counterattack. The woman had used an artifact, so that was how she was able to escape the mad prince for so long.

Maybe the woman was right, that she was a monster because the look of horror in the woman's eyes only made the girl smile bitterly as wet droplets streamed down her face like rivers down a raging stream. That day the girl made a vow that she wouldn't ever be that weak again. She would train, she would learn, she would do anything and everything she could so that she was never like the doormat she was that day.

"Don't listen to her, Evi-" The boy was saying, but she was too far gone in her head, in her searing hatred, she had forgotten about the boy.

Blood, chaos, a hue as red as the burning fires of hell, swords clashing, bodies dropping, chaos and havoc. Another memory was surfacing a far more horrific memory than the sad disgrace of the last.

Everything was burning.

The roses, the lilies, the azaleas, everything.

Faces covered in blood, sweat, and dirt the girl looked up at the man in white. His face was so much like her mother's. Her mother, the queen, who'd died just moments ago.

The girl had to bid her mother one last goodbye, to keep her company in her final breaths.

The blond-haired boy and she had grown so much closer after the events of her brother that the magic of their realm deemed it fit to spawn children for them. There was no physical union; it was an accident, to say the least. Their magic had tangled with one another by mistake and in such a rare way that an egg was produced as a by-product of the accidental spell. Children who weren't more than three moons before the girl had to leave them in the care of her friend to see her mother off one last time. A friend with hair as mesmerizing as the galaxy and a name that encapsulated the beauty of the moon. The only problem was, the purple-haired girl did not deem the blond-haired part-siren as a friend.

She thought the Siren was annoying, an ignorant wild card full of chaos and discourse. She believed the blond-haired girl didn't appreciate what she had, a loving mother and more importantly a man who loved her. A man who the purple-haired girl viewed as her best friend, and the only person the purple-haired girl cared for now that her brother had betrayed her and her love had died in that very brother’s hands. The purple-haired girl wrongfully assumed that only misery and grief would be birthed if these three children were to be raised by the blond-haired girl. So she hid them away. She spread each triplet across the realms. One in the mortal plains, one raised with the etiquettes of the Fae Realm, and finally another in the fairy realm, otherwise known as the mythical celestial realm. A place all fae believed to be nothing but legends and tales, all but a few handfuls knew the truth.

All the while, the blond-haired girl’s heart was fracturing. Each crack spread until her heart barely clung together as she sat by the queen's deathbed. The queen was everything to the girl, she took her in when no one else did. She loved her when no one else dared to, when they all spread lies and gossip behind her back, she taught her all she knew. She praised her when she did something right, and lectured her when she did something wrong. So how could she refuse to accept the mantle of the Griffin Court crown when her mother, in all senses of the word, asked her to? The queen's last breath was a string of smoke as it faded into the chamber of her bedroom. Tears streamed down the blond-haired girl's cheeks, her hands gripping the queen's pale withered ones, it was one of the few times the girl allowed herself to cry.

Everything was blurry for the blond-haired girl as she was crowned amongst the sneers of her supposed family, her sister, her once loving father, although not by blood he was once kind to her. Now they both looked at her not with kind smiles but with their lips curled into vengeful scowls. Their noses perked high in the sky in disgust as she stared down across her court. The girl gazed across the lying nobles behind their smiling faces. The greedy glances across her body as they clapped. The hungry vultures hidden within their souls as they congratulated her. The girl knew how to play the game though, she knew how to hide the pain, the anger, and the sorrow deep behind her beaming smile as she thanked all who came to welcome her to her new throne.

Nodding like the perfect saintess she was, she put on a mask of her own. Her grief, her tears all cleaned up behind a perfect air of false joy and glowing golden eyes. The issue was she could have pulled through it all; everything could have happened in peace if only her children hadn't been snatched from her. The catalyst to the blond-haired girl's downfall, to the downfall of them all.

When she went back to meet up with that trusted friend to get back her children no one was there to greet her. She went to their meeting spot only to find that she couldn't sense them anymore.

She'd tracked her down, the purple-haired girl. Confronted her but she wouldn't budge. The golden-haired girl broke. It didn't matter that the golden-haired boy also lost his children, for they were also his. It didn't matter that the purple-haired girl had betrayed her. All that mattered was that the blond-haired girl had lost everything. First, it was her mother, the former Queen of the Griffins, her golden light no longer found in this realm, and now her children, whom she didn't plan to have but loved nonetheless, any mother would after seeing their faces, were gone. Hidden away by the person she thought she could trust.

The blond-haired girl lunged her claws extended to kill the purple-haired girl before her. No matter how much the snow-haired boy felt for the purple-haired witch the blond-haired girl was going to kill her in her rage. That was until a roar as loud as the blasting of a giant ten-foot canon sounded across the court.

It was her brother. A brother she had long thought was dead but wasn't.

Fire so much fire covered the gardens as the blond-haired girl tried to subdue him. Calling upon her dear friend the blond-haired boy, who had been in the Griffin Court that day for the queen's funeral, to help. He did not know about their children. For the triplets had arrived in the form of an egg in front of the blond-haired girl's bed one day as she prepared for the evening with the snow-haired boy, who she was getting closer and closer to recently. Turns out the spell had lingered on her clothing and had ruin- transformed the fabric into a hard shell to enclose around three new living beings.

The fight was drawing on her magic, the blond-haired girl's brother was stronger, but how? She was weakening, something was draining her magic.

There was a shift in her body, in her mind, and black enveloped the blond-haired girl. Perhaps it was due to the loss of her mother, the queen, then her children, and now the memories of killing her brother. Even if he was standing before her once more it didn't change the trauma that his presence caused her. Maybe it was all three causes that weakened the girl's will to hold on as an entity gripped onto the blond-haired girl's body. It was like she was in some limbo. Getting small looks into the world but never the whole picture. Sounds filtered in here and there.

"Everetta! Bloody Hell! Everetta stop it!" Someone was shouting. But the blond-haired girl couldn't seem to move. She knew who it was, that prim and proper tone could only be from one fae.

Was she moving? Yes, she was, but she wasn't the one moving her body. She wasn't the one giving her body commands to move.

"We need to stop her, she's not herself, something-" The words were cut off from the feminine voice, it was from the white-haired girl the blond-haired boy was into.

"We need to kill her!" Another feminine voice bellowed as a hurl of purple hellfire came barreling toward her. A glow of bright light was all the girl could see in her blurry vision as she blocked it. Again her body moved out of her control, as a voice that sounded like hers but also not like hers spoke.

"Please, do try your best. I'd love to give this body a test drive." Reaching out to grasp the power of the purple flame before her she took the magic of the fire into her body.

"Everetta! I know you're in there somewhere. Fight it, please!" The blond-haired boy pleaded, catching her attention, or to be more accurate he caught the attention of the entity that was inside her.

That entity wanted something, it wanted back what was rightfully hers. The other half of the blond-haired girl's soul. The other half that was inside the blond-haired boy's body. He had been too weak to survive with his own soul so his mother and the Queen of the Griffins thought it might be best if half the blond-haired girl's soul went into the boy's body so that he might live. Or that was how the story went, but the truth was the girl was far too strong for her own good. So half her soul was cleaved out of the girl so that her magic was more bearable so that she was more controllable, more easy to overpower .

But just as the power of magic was inches away from the blond-haired boy the snow-haired boy shoved his brother out of the way. Both the boys lay on the ground a tangle of broken ribs and shattered bones as they groaned in pain. Trembling from muscle exhaustion they scrambled to get back on their feet as the blond-haired girl's body shook with laughter.

The blond-haired girl snarled, her movement out of her control. As she launched one magical orb after another, trying to get back the other half of her soul. The thing was, the true owner of the blond-haired girl's body did not mind losing half her soul if it meant that it kept the blond-haired boy alive. The entity possessing the blond-haired girl's body on the other hand didn't care whether or not the boy lived. It wanted it all, all the power, all the magic, everything. The girl was too confined, trapped in her own body, she couldn't do anything. It was as if shackles bound her wrists and ankles against an imaginary stone wall. The real blond-haired girl was too worn out from grief and loss to fight.

At least not until she launched the next ball of light just as the snow-haired boy tackled her in turn taking the lethal hit of the magic. Red stained her vision just as everything became clear again as a body fell to her feet.

"No! Flynn-" The other feminine voice was cut off just as the blond-haired girl's vision became clear once more. Blood was splattered across her golden white tattered gown. Her heart-shaped neckline already peeling off her left boob. The hem of her outfit was torn and damp with mud. Staring down at the dying form before her the girl fell to her knees too shocked to say anything. Her eyes widened in horror as her trembling hands scooped up the now ashen-colored snow-haired boy's head, Flynn. As blood seeped through his lips. His own feeble shaking hand reached up to cup the wet stained tears streaking the blond-haired girl’s, Everetta's, cheeks. "I-I love you, always." The boy breathed out, his body going still before slumping against her body at the statement. A gray fog covered his once vibrant blue eyes before his limp hand hit the dirt-stained ground of the gardens.

A screeching bellow pierced the air as magic coursed through every inch of the gardens. A soul-shattering scream yanked from the very core of her fractured heart reverberated across the entire realm destroying all that it touched.

Eyes opened, I finally awoke, my eyes glowing their bright golden hue as I sat up. Gazing at the snow-haired boy who was standing above me, his back to my front. Frowning I cocked a brow until I saw the dagger coming towards the snow-haired boy, Flynn, or was it, Fletcher. I didn't know what made me think of that name or if he even had changed his name. First things first, I had to stop the dagger plunging for the boy I loved.