Finding Fae

I was getting tired very fast and it was making me worry. I’ve called for Charles twice and, while he didn’t say anything other than what he needed, he was looking just as worried as I was. It has been three days here, but I’m not sure if that was accurate or not, since one day seemed to last for only a few minutes while another lasted for far longer than I would have expected it to.

Each time something bad happened, when I needed him the most, Mal was there but not there. I could feel him, like when I was in the river, but I couldn’t see him or reach out and touch him, no matter how much I wanted to. And that was very much. I knew, physically, he was with me, but I missed him, despite my wanting to choke him still for leaving me in the first place.

Right now, I was supposed to be extracting a bad tooth from a rock gnome. They may be small, coming barely up to my hip, but they had nasty attitudes on the best days. This one was in pain. Rock gnomes, like any elemental gnome, were testy and didn’t like being disturbed. They bite and throw dirt and rocks and, when really angry, they would ball up and roll at your legs, homing in so that no matter where you went, you were going to get hit. They weighed a lot, too, so that crap hurt. My poor shins were going to be so bruised up and sore.

I only had a short time frame, since the Cloud of Yuck was basically tapping my shoulder, and I was debating on if I should call Charles to run interference or if I should stick it out a little longer and try to come up with a new tactic.

“You’re going to die,” I heard my uncle from when I first got here. “No one catches that thing.”

“Go away, and take your depression with you because I really don’t need it,” I shouted at him as I jumped to avoid the rolling gnome. He had been making an appearance more and more frequently since I went for an ill advised swim.

I was a bit late and it caught my heel, making me stumble a little and I landed on my hip painfully. Since no opportunity is missed, I saw the ball of rocky flesh turn abruptly and aim right for my head. Of course. I groaned and did my best to brace, but ended up catching a direct hit to the chest, driving the air from my lungs with an “umph” as I wrapped my arms around it on instinct.

“Open up and let me have that tooth, you rolling pain in my legs,” I said firmly and grabbed the gnomes face, pinching the cheeks hard until the mouth opened and I reached in and yanked. “Finally! Ouch! No biting! Friends don’t bite friends!”

I let it go and ran for it as fast as I could, heading back to where the relative that started this mess was waiting. He looked like a horrible mix of gothic and emo and was entirely too skinny to look anywhere near healthy.

“Good job,” he said, lacking any real feeling. “One more waits ahead, then all will be completed. You will be judged then.”

“Judged? You mean to say I’m doing all of this just so a bunch of dead people can tell me if it was worth it or not?” I snapped, but he was already shimmering away. “Oh, come on! You people are insane!”

I started jogging, since it was the perfect terrain for a low drain, distance eating pace. Flat, even, and cobbled. Some little village that was completely empty, but looked like it was in the middle of festival preparations of some sort.

Stupid Cloud of Yuck, making me do things I shouldn’t be doing. Stupid gnome, making my doing the things I shouldn’t be doing hurt like crazy. Stupid Awakening, showing up when I was too weak, no matter how much I prepared. Stupid Trials that were annoying, And stupid judging making all of this a waste of time.

“Who comes up with this crap? I mean, really? Pass the Trials for what? To be told you didn’t pass them the right way so you fail? “Sorry about putting you through all of that, but you weren’t good enough so now you’re dead. Enjoy the afterlife.” What kind of messed up system is that?” I muttered to myself. “This sucks.”

Mal

I smiled and shook my head. She was ranting. I tried to check up on her because she was getting weaker. Her skin was almost gray, it was so pale and she was sweating and cool to the touch. But I caught her ranting and let her focus on her Awakening.

“Is there any way I can give her body strength?” I asked one of the healers.

“Normally, yes, but she is in the middle of her Awakening,” she said, looking at me with sympathy. “It won’t take. We can try the human way, and try giving her vitamins and fluids directly, but I’m afraid it won’t do much good.”

She patted my arm before pulling her hands out from under my wing where she had been healing Fae some more.

“She’s strong, Mal,” Blaine said, his eyes red and puffy. He had just made it to the manor a couple of hours ago and learned of the price we ended up paying. “She’ll make it.”

“How are we going to tell her when she wakes up?” I asked, looking at the still figure on the bed. “It’s going to break her heart. You know she never wanted any of us to get hurt because of our Bonds.”

“We tell her he died a hero,” Blaine shook his head as more tears fell from his eyes. “He saved the Queen and her King. It had purpose and meaning behind it. We’re all going to die at one point, Mal. If I had a choice, I would chose the same.”

“Any news from Ben?” I asked, since he was the only one not accounted for.

“He’ll be here within the hour,” Blaine answered, pulling up a chair and sitting beside the bed. “What is she doing in there?”

“I’m not sure, but she was ranting about how insane it was just a minute ago,” I chuckled as I tucked her head under my chin. “She’s so weak, though.”

“She’ll make it,” Blaine said again, taking her hand in his.

Fae

That’s it. I officially hated all of this. So far, I had been holding on to the whole, “It’s going to be worth it” bit, but now, I was over all of it. I didn’t care that I would know what I am, at least, at the end of this. It would be a small compensation for the fifty shades of stupid I was dealing with to get through.

Fishing. Freaking fishing was my last Trial. I had to catch a fish that was know to be insanely difficult to catch. Why? It was blind, so it couldn’t see it’s snack was bait. It had no advantage, like super sensitive whiskers or heat seeking glands in it’s face. It felt the fisherman on the other end of the bait’s line. It felt the heartbeat, the smallest of movements, even the emotions. So how in the heck was I supposed to catch it?

I took a deep breath and released my inner turmoil before I cast out the line again. So far, I had caught enough fish to feed Jacob for a year, but not the one I needed. Maybe I should have asked him how he caught his food. Wait. Did he hunt or did Nana just feed him? I can’t imagine her dishing out Meow Mix for him and even less him actually eating it. Did he eat the same dinner Nana did? I can’t see that happening, either. Nana was a terrible cook. How she had survived this long was a miracle. Jacob had to hunt, surely. He wouldn’t survive if he didn’t.

Mother of pearl! I was too loud on this end of the rod again. I sighed as I reeled it back in.

“Grandpa!” I groaned and flopped back on to the grass.

“You’re really... Not good at fishing,” he grimaced as he bent over to look at me.

“How am I supposed to catch a fish that is almost impossible to catch?” I said, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Can’t seem to stop thinking too loud?” he asked and I smacked my hand to my face. “Thoughts can’t be stopped when you’re idle. They’ll do what they want, when they want. You have to have a clear mind and relaxed body to catch this fish, but I always had a hard time doing that, too. I found a hands-off approach worked better.”

He shimmered away and I stared at where he had been. That was it? What did that even mean?

“Thanks for the lack of clarity, Charles!” I growled as I sat back up.

Clear mind and relaxed body. How did I manage that?

“Lesson one,” I remembered Mal saying once. “Clear your mind and let your body relax.”

“Meditate!” I shouted then slapped my hand over my mouth. So much for not spooking the fish.

I got comfy and cast again, closing my eyes to meditate. Which proved impossible very quickly. My brain just wouldn’t shut up, no matter how hard I tried to shove a sock in it. Did I have any clean socks left? I should probably do some laundry when I wake up. I’ll probably be too wasted away though. I’ll have to ask Nando if he wouldn’t mind taking it to his mom. She had this amazing smelling soap that just made me want to snuggle into the blankets and squeal like a pig in mud.

Stop it, Fae! Clear mind!

I reeled in my line again and thumped my head against my hand a few times. Maybe if I mixed things around in there a little, they’ll start falling out of chaos. Gods of ages, I bet the cellar was a total disaster right about now. Those losers better not have scuffed my walls when they took me, or so help me, I will get my revenge.

“Okay, this is clearly not going to work,” I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Hands off approach. What in the undead realm did that mean? I think the whole lacking a corporeal body thing was making him lose his marbles, because that made no sense. Or too much sense.

I looked up and saw my uncle again.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. “Your going to die”. I got it,” I said and waved him off. “Unless you have something useful to say, just spare me the repetitive drama and beat it.”

“How does the fish know?” he asked.

“It feels the fisherman on the other end,” I sighed.

“Hands off,” he said and shimmered away.

I blinked. I felt so.... dumb. If there’s no fisherman on the other end of the line, what is there to feel?

I cast the line and shoved the rob into the ground. Avoid that, you little scaly bastard.

Ben

I couldn’t believe it. Out of all of us there, how was it possible for him to be the one that died? I didn’t believe it when Blaine told me, but seeing him on that bed, covered in a white sheet, so still and pale, I was in shock. How did this even happen? I knew the story and I couldn’t help the bit of pride I felt inside that his last act had been so noble.

I looked over at the bed where Fae was. When I had come in, Mal had been laying beside her, using a wing to keep her body warm without overheating her and Blaine had been asleep, holding her hand. Now, Blaine was staring out the window and Mal was in a chair, holding her hand and ignoring the food right next to him.

“When was the last time you ate, Mal?” I asked, pulling the sheet back up and walking towards the bed. There was nothing I could do about death, but I might be able to be of some help where there’s still hope to be had.

“I don’t even know how long I’ve been here,” he shook his head, not looking away from Fae’s face.

“You need to eat. When she comes out of this, she’s going to need your strength,” I said, pushing the small table closer. Thankfully, there were wheels on it.

“He’s right, you idiot,” the Queen said from her bed where she was reading through documents. “She’s already so weak. Right now, the only thing keeping her body alive are the Trials. Once those are over, her body is going to start shutting down, regardless of if she passed or not. You’ll have to be ready and willing to give her enough of your own energy to keep that from happening. You can’t do that if you don’t have anything to give her. Eat. And if you argue, I’ll have Quinn shove it down your throat via tube.”

“You sound just like Fae,” I smiled at her as Mal nibbled on the sliced bread. “She’s pretty violent about caring, too.”

King Quinn chuckled as he peeked at his wife over his half frame glasses.

“It’s less caring and more logical. They’re too young to die,” she said.

“She denies it, too,” I laughed and put a piece of meat on the bread Mal was eating. “Bread doesn’t count. Protein, dumb-dumb.”

“When did you become my mother?” he muttered.

“I beginning to wonder that myself,” I said as I took over the chair Blaine had been in before.

Fae

“Take that, you stupid little fish!” I shouted as I held up the one fish I had been after all this time.

Little certainly was appropriate. While most of them were about the size of small catfish, this one was about the size of finger. It was tiny. How it got the bait and hook in it’s mouth puzzled me, but I didn’t care. I caught the little devil.

“That’s... small, but you got it,” the perky woman smiled and clapped for me when I gave it to her. “A bit unorthodox, but the result is what matters. You’ve passed all of the Trials. Just in time too.”

I looked over and the Cloud of Yuck was literally right there before it vanished along with everything else, leaving me in a vast expanse of blinding white.

“Pick a color besides white before my retinas melt,” I said, covering my eyes with my hands. “I don’t want to be blind, thanks.”

“Better?” Charles asked, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I peeked out and saw a wide, rolling meadow like the ones you’d find in Ireland and Scotland. So green.

“Better,” I sighed as I looked around. “So this is it, huh?”

“This is it,” he nodded. “The judging has already started. You’ll have no part in it at all from here.”

“How long will it take?” I asked him as I sat in the soft grass.

“Hard to say,” he said, sitting beside me, his legs out as he leaned back on his hands. “Sometimes, they’ll be quick having already made up their minds by the time the Trials are over. Other times... Time moves differently here than it does out there.”

“You asked about my mother when this all started,” I stated. “Does that mean she’s still alive?”

“Unless she’s recently passed, yes,” he nodded. “I haven’t seen her since her own Awakening. You don’t look like her much. Nor do you look like your father. You look like your grandmother very much. Sadly, your mother never got to meet her. She died just before we had to cut your mother out.”

“What happened?”

“Assassins. It was a dangerous time, back then,” he said.

We fell into silence for a while before I mustered the courage to ask the biggest question I wanted to know.

“What’s my mothers name?”