Finding Fae

I ended up getting suspended for three days. Effective tomorrow, since the day was nearly over. Fine by me. I was not feeling too good about my ability to function at school while still trying to wrap my head around all of this.

I made it to Art at the end of the day and kept working on the drawing of the lady. She was very much still on my mind, but considering the circumstances, she’d been pushed to a back burner, so to speak. I took the whole class working on her face alone. It wasn’t easy to do, since I wanted to catch the way she looked just the right way. I had just moved to her clothes when the bell rang and I smiled as I put everything away and went to meet Nando in the hall.

“You’re suddenly very chipper,” he commented as I walked with him, feeling like I was on top of the world again.

“I got suspended,” I beamed.

“And this is a good thing?” he tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah,” I laughed as we met up with the others and I went to my locker instead of to which ever vehicle I was going to be in today.

“Can we know why?” Nando asked as I started taking out my books.

“Why what?” Zane asked.

“Fae got suspended,” he said and Zane sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I hit Rex in the face with my Algebra book,” I said, waving the monster in the air before tucking into my bag. “Then I hit Malachi with it.”

“You’re not my type, but I am so turned on right now,” Ben smiled.

“Don’t make me get the water bottle,” Blaine said and smacked Ben’s shoulder. “Let’s go, Fae.

“Wait, we’re not going to address the fact that she just book slapped two people?” Zane grumbled. “This is not okay.”

“Pull the stick out of your butt, Zane,” Ben huffed. “Those two have been giving her grief since day one and we all know it.”

“She can’t defend herself if one of them decides to retaliate,” Zane glared and I handed my bag to Blaine.

I grabbed Zane’s arm and had him pinned to the ground with the heel of shoe against his neck, adding gentle pressure in three seconds.

“I can defend myself perfectly fine, Zane,” I said, holding his arm up to add extra pressure to his neck. “Just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I can’t. Gary may not have done a lot of things right as my dad, but he made sure that, if whatever we were running from caught up, I would be able to stand a small chance.”

I helped him back up took my bag back and walked out of the school with a smile. Take that, Mister Doubtful.

-------

“So that was pretty cool,” Blaine said after we had left the school behind.

“I learned that when I was five,” I waved it off.

“Did you seriously smack Malachi with a book?” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I did,” I said proudly.

“He totally deserved it,” he laughed.

“Completely,” I nodded.

“Feel any better? I know those two have been bothering the mess out of you,” he grinned.

“Yes,” I smiled widely.

“Good,” he chuckled.

We got to my house and Gary and the Jeep were gone. Shocker. I went inside and went to the kitchen for something to eat. Which is where I found the note stuck to the fridge with a magnet.

“What’s that?” Blaine asked, coming in with his overnight bag over his shoulder.

“Well, it looks like Gary up and left,” I rolled my eyes and handed him the letter. “Says he isn’t risking death by sticking around when “they” come for me, which they will, apparently. He left a few grand for me in my room and restocked the kitchen, but he won’t come back.”

“Piece of shit,” Blaine muttered. “Even for a Demi, this is low.”

“I knew he would try to take off, but I didn’t think he’d leave me behind so easily,” I sank to a chair at the table. “I thought that, despite him not being my father, that the last eighteen years had amounted to something, that I meant something to him. He is the only father I’ve known and he had his flaws, but he wasn’t a total failure.”

“Did he ever say anything about who “they” are?” Blaine asked, dropping his bag and raiding the pantry for snacks for both of us. “Demi’s are usually pretty good at knowing when something’s on their tail, so if he felt like something was on you, there probably is.”

“He only said that he and Mo- Ricca, made a lot of people very mad after I was born. I guess I know the how part now,” I said and grabbed a handful of chips from the bag he sat down. “I’ll likely figure out the who before long. I doubt I’ll ever know why, though.”

“I wish there was some way we could help you answer at least a few of the important questions I know you have,” he shook his head and sat down with a heavy sigh.

“Every question is important to the right person,” I said.

“Okay, wise one,” he snorted and rolled his eyes.

“What kind of fae are you?” I blurted out.

Blaine’s teasing face instantly vanished and I felt like kicking myself.

“Sorry. That’s rude, isn’t it?” I said quickly. “Ben told me it was rude to ask. I guess I just sort of forgot.”

“It’s fine. You’ve got a lot going on,” he shook his head. “I’m a unicorn.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“No,” he laughed. “Wait, you actually believed me?”

“How the heck am I supposed to know, dingus,” I rolled my eyes and threw a chip at him.

“I will say that I have wings, not that it narrows it down much,” he said.

“What kind of wings? Feathered, membrane, bug like?” I asked with a massive grin on his face.

“You are way too excited about this,” he gave me a look. “My guess would be like a dragonfly or some sort of bug. Right now, they’re non-functioning, since they just grew six months ago.”

“Did it hurt? When they grew.”

“It was during my Awakening, so I would guess it hurt like hell, but I wouldn’t have noticed,” he shrugged. “Wings are unique to different species and each species has different sub-species. Like sprites. There’s wood sprites, water sprites, wind sprites, which are complete terrors, by the way. Never make a wind sprite mad.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that next time I meet one,” I laughed at his horrified look.

“Each sub-species has different markings or colors to set them apart,” he continued, not convinced of my sincerity. “You can tell a water sprite from a fire sprite by the wings. Of course, the personalities are also a dead give away, but not every winged fae is as obvious as sprites. Those guys give no shits.”

“So, you’re clearly not a sprite, then,” I giggled. “I’ll figure it out, though.”

“I’m dreading the day you do,” he groaned.

“It can’t be that bad,” I laughed.

“It is,” he glared as he tossed a chip at me.

“Okay, so what can you tell me about elves?”

“Total snobs,” he scoffed. “Most are so full of themselves that they don’t mingle with “lesser beings” for long and only when it can’t be avoided. Others are just pricks.”

We talked about different types of fae for hours, even when I got up to make something that was passable for dinner. Blaine had strong opinions and most of the things he had to say were pointing out flaws and failings of the other races.

“You’re pretty harsh in you judgments, you know?” I pointed out as we played a game of checkers, because that was all there was to do.

“I can be, but just because most imps are useless troublemakers, doesn’t mean they all are,” he grinned. “King me.”

“I swear, you cheat,” I grumbled.

“Never,” he gasped in faked offense.

“So, Ben said something about mixed breeds and pure breeds not being all that different,” I said as he set up the board again.

“We aren’t really. A mixed breed gnome looks like a pure bred, just like every other race and sub-species. The difference is in the abilities.”

“Like magic?”

“Eh,” he shrugged. “Not all fae use the type of magic humans think of. Some have specific... gifts. Like Ben and his trick. I can do some tricks, like he does, but his are different. Fox magic is all about tricks. Distractions. Watch the pretty lady while I switch the bunny for the bird, kind of thing. His ability is stronger because that’s his specialty. I don’t have the capability to do half the things he can, even if I was pure bred.”

“Like a professional trick maker,” I winked. “Seems right up his alley.”

“Or incessant playboy,” he rolled his eyes. “He tried hitting on my cousin. Nearly had her, too, before Zane caught wind of things.”

“I bet that was a sight to see,” I laughed.

“Oh, Zane was completely taken over by that fox and his tricks,” Blaine laughed. “I, on the other hand, am more or less immune to them.”

“Is that why you always seem like his handler?” I snorted.

“I guess so. It’s not often that any fae and a fox really get along, but we’ve known each other since we were in diapers,” he nodded. “He and Zane seem to have a hard time still, but that’s not surprising, since Zane’s a Morhpi.”

“Really?” I beamed, then I remembered something and frowned a little. “Is he a dog?”

“How did you guess that?” Blaine asked. “He’s usually got iron control over his features.”

“I think I saw him here one night,” I said and told him about what I had thought was a dream a few days ago.

“I’m not entirely shocked, but I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed in my brother,” he shook his head. “He’s a dog Morphi, so he’s got the loyalty thing down, but he’s also got a few drawbacks, like separation issues.”

I was about to ask what he meant when his phone started ringing in his pocket and he groaned as he stood up to answer it, leaving the room for a bit of privacy and I was left to stare at the game we had been playing.

This guy here had three kings already with two more less than three turns away. I had four pieces left, none of which were anywhere near getting kinged. I was well and truly beaten. Again. This made five games in a row. Cheater.