The Time Twisters of Lily
Chapter one
Bam, bam, bam, "Get up," bam "Up!" I jumped at the yells and bangs against my door, from my Aunt Zelda. "I'm up. I'm up." I called through the thin wood door. Climbing out of my bed I looked at the room around me. My bed was lifted on a loft with a ladder going up to it. Under the bed was a book case made of hard oak wood and it was crammed with hundreds of books in multiple languages. Next to the book case was a small closet that had dresses and tunics hung up by every color in the rainbow. By the door was a desk of oak and had one drawer on it. Under the drawer was a file cabinet made of cherry wood. Above the desk was a window, showing green hills and the crystal blue pond. Blue curtains were hung by the window, and birds made of white and blue paper hung on the ceiling. Sliding down the ladder, I looked at the mirror hanging on the wall. I had dark black hair that flowed past my shoulders to the center of my back, fair skin, and a pretty face. Small nose, red lips, small ears, and then there were my eyes. Unlike the common blue, brown, or green my eyes were a different color. In the dark they looked black, but in the light you could see they were actually a beautiful deep metallic. Going up to my closet I pulled out a deep blue satin dress. The silk flowed down my legs to my knees, the sleeves snug, but still kind of loose. Pure white leather ties crossed and made X'es down the front of the dress to the white ribbon tied at the end of my chest. Pulling on black leggings and black boots I laced them and brushed my hair quickly braded it and tied the end with a single strand of blue ribbon. Grabbing my leather tote bag I slipped it over my head so it rested against my hip. Swinging my black cloak around my shoulders and tying the leather stands at the base of my neck to keep it in place I quickly opened the door and stepped out into the hall. If I'm fast enough, I'll be able to miss them altogether, and then I can have the whole day to myself instead of doing their biding… I thought turning the corner to go down the back staircase before smacking head first into Prince Xavier Naaseter. I started to tip backward before he caught my arms and righted me. "Whoa, are you all right?" he asked letting me go. He had jet black hair that fell into his dark blue eyes, tan skin, and a very kind smile. He was a foot taller than me and was a year older. "Ah…yes I'm fine, thank you majesty." I said straitening my cloak and walking down the stairs. "Why are you in such a hurry?" He said following me down the stair case through the kitchen and out into the orchards. Walking into the orchard I looked around and finally answered him: "I'm in a hurry because I don't want to see-" "LILY! Lily Goldenday, I saw you walk into that orchard! Get out here this instant!" two voices in perfect sync called out past the trees. Sighing I walked out to see my cousins, Nathaniel and Natalie walking towards me. They were twins, both fifteen with white-blond hair, green eyes, pale skin, and identical shirts and pants. They were spoiled by Aunt Zelda and used me as a servant; and they always talked in sync. "Mother said that you were to go get these things for us, since we're too precious to go out by ourselves, and no one cares if you disappear." They told me snickering. "That's not true, I care if she disappears." Xavier said stepping out from the shadows of the trees. Gasping they instantly bowed "Prince Xavier, pardon our rudeness, and the rudeness of our cousin, we did not know you were there." They said smoothly and sweetly. Grinning Xavier looked at them while they stood up and handed me a list of items:
Fairy wings
Troll leather
Siren silk
Cyclops teeth
Sprite cloth
Elf ears
Dragon scales (hearts, claws, and teeth)
Unicorn horn
Pegasus hair
Gnome metal
Dwarf wood
Phoenix feathers
Centaur hoofs
Witch sparklers
"Are you kidding? This will take all day to get!" I exclaimed as they handed me a pouch of coins and walked away. "We don't care, figure it out Lily. Good day Prince Xavier." They called over their shoulder before they diapered back into the castle. Sighing I turned away and walked towards the sables. "You're just going to do what they say? Aren't they younger than you?" Xavier asked following me. "Well yes they are, but they are children of governess Zelda, I'm just an orphan who Aunt Zelda takes care of." I told him walking through the stable doors. "But you are older than them, shouldn't they treat you like a superior?" he asked obviously not understanding what I was getting at. They had important parents, I had no parents at all, and they were going to be the future advisor and governess; I was just a servant to them. I walked over to the farthest stable and opened the gate leading into it. Inside was a pure black horse with blue eyes. He was considered a mean horse, because he kicked and bit all his care takers, but when she had come to see him he treated me completely different. He was kind and gentle with her, almost as if he understood her and knew she wouldn't hurt him. Because he was considered "her" horse she was allowed to pick his name, so she had named him Light, because of how dark he was to everyone but her. When she was done putting his saddle and bridle on him she walked him outside and gave him so water before climbing on top of the saddle. "I'll be back later, please return home, Prince." I said before I nudged Light out of the palace gates and towards her friend's shop; Magic and Mischief. I tied Light's bridle onto one of the horse posts in front of the store and walked inside. The walls were covered in shelves and small patches of bright red, green, yellow, and blue peeked out from the bare spots on the wall. Kids, parents, and teenagers were picking thing of the shelves, playing with magical toys, setting off pranks, and buying items. A few spiral stair cases led up to the second floor, books were scattered on the floor and on the shelves, and the walls were packed full of magical items. Wands, rings, candy, accessories, toys, clothes, and other magical items were lying on the shelves. A few kids ran past me knocking me into a group of teenagers who were playing with some wands. A bang went off sending silver and blue sparks across my head. The sparks condensed around my head and a silver tiara with sapphires set into the metal cooled and rested on my head. Reaching up I pulled the tiara off and looked at it; the silver was shaped into tree branches with flowers blooming within the branches, the sapphires set in the center of the flowers. "You might as well keep that, it is shaped to your head, so it will not fit anyone else." A voice said behind me. Turning around I saw the owner of the shop, and my friend, Caterina Zion. Smiling I hugged her and pulled back to look at her. She had kind gray eyes, fair skin, and light blond hair; she was heavy set and was about 57 years old. "Caterina! It's wonderful to see you again. You haven't aged a day." I told her stepping back. She smiled and leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I should hope I didn't age, not with my magic potion for eternal youth." She said winking. I grinned and we walked back towards the pay station. A large oak counter was set in the back of the store with small glass boxes lining the wall behind it. Caterina walked behind the counter across from me pulling out a wand from the sleeve of her dress. I handed her the list and bag of silver. "The twins want these things by the time I get home." I told her sighing "Sprite cloth, Gnome metal, Pegasus hair, Witch sparklers? These are outrageous! Why do they think you would be able to get these things? Honestly." She said under her breath. Flicking her wand she filled out a leather bag and suddenly the glass boxes started moving. All of the items flew out of the boxes, measured themselves out, and flew into smaller leather bags. They were tied up and placed into the large bag before Catherine handed me the bag counting out the silver she needed. She handed me back 15 silver coins and 5 gold coins. I stared at the money in my hand amazed and a little scared. I had never had any money to myself before, of course I knew the names of the coins and how much they were worth, but I had never had any to myself. As far as I knew, coppers were called Dizens, silvers were Acmels, gold was Slemers, and platinum was Uniferites. 50 Dizens was an Acmel, 25 Acmels was a Slemer, and 15 Slemers was a Uniferite. I looked at the tiara in my hand and put two Slemers on the counter. "Oh no, dear, you keep the gold and the tiara, it is formed to you and you only." Catherine told me putting the gold pack into my hand. "But…" I said looking at the tiara, it was so peaty and obviously worth something. "Think of it as a birthday present from me." Catherine told me winking. I looked at her shocked, "How did you know my birthday was tomorrow?" I asked her. "A witch never reveals her secrets, now does she?" Catherine said laughing. I smiled and looked at the money in my hands. "If I were you, I would keep that. Think of that as a birthday present also, just…from the twins." Catherine said closing my hands around the coins. "Oh, right…I'll do that." I said putting the money in my tote bag. "If they ask, just say you spent it all on their ridiculous items." Catherine told me winking and suddenly disappearing behind the counter. I grabbed the bag of items and put it in my tote bag, then turned and wandered through the candy aisle of the store. I grabbed a bag of Fairy Spairy, Star Rocks, and Apple Spiders before heading back to the counter. Catherine was going through several glass boxes and jars as I placed the bags of candy on the counter and fished out three Acmels. Catherine turned around and saw me and the bags. "Oh, thank goodness you didn't leave, here. When you get back home tell Prince Xavier that his order came in." Catherine said handing me a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. I handed Catherine the coins and walked out of the store opening the bag of Fairy Spairy. I untied Light from the post and sat on the saddle gently guiding him towards the castle. I pulled some of the candy out of the bag and looked at it. Small balls the size of marbles rolled around in my hand, they were whitish-blue colored and smelled of spice cake and lavender. I popped a few in my mouth and moved them around with my tongue. They tasted like cherries and maple, and sizzled in my mouth. I ate a few more and continued to ride towards the castle passing by an alley. I glanced inside and saw three boys crowding around another. The boy was beaten up and bleeding from him mouth and head. I stopped Light and looked closer to see that the beaten up boy was one of my friends, Gabriel. I slowly moved Light backward and tied him to a post before slipping into the alley. Flipping the hood of my cloak over my head I pulled the cloak all the way around me and bent my head down so I disappeared into the darkness of the alley. I slid behind one of the boys and grabbed his hair pulling it back and tripped him. Stepping over him I flipped the second boy over my shoulder I grabbed the third boy's shirt and pulled him closer to me. "Leave this boy alone, if I find out you bothered him again I'll be sure to find you and make you pay. Got it?" I sneered at him and he nodded trying to free himself from my grip. Grinning I kicked him making him fall next to his friends. They ran off and I turned to Gabriel, he was on the ground looking up at me. His lip was split and his head and cheek was cut and bleeding. Pulling my napkin out of my tote bag I pressed it against his forehead. "Oww," he groaned looking at me. "Thank Lily I was in trouble there." I helped him up and walked him over to where Light was. He climbed onto the saddle as I untied Light from the post. I walked Light back to the castle with Gabriel riding on Light. "What did those boys want with you anyway?" I asked him. "Oh, I may or may not have… borrowed some things from them. They found me in that alley and…well you saw what happened." He said pressing my napkin against his cheek. "And to think, the castles best stable boy was caught stealing form someone. That never happens." I said rolling my eyes. "Hahaha yeah, any way, why were you in town Lily. You never go out of the castle grounds unless you have too." He said glancing at me. "Oh, the twins wanted a bunch of magical items for some reason, and I don't go out of the castle grounds because too many people know me in town. It's not safe to wander around by myself, I mean look at what happened to you." I told him showing him the list of items I had to get. He whistled and handed the list back, "That's a lot of stuff, wonder what the twins want with that." He said dabbing his lip where it was split. "Oh, here do you want some?" I asked him handing him the bag of Fairy Spairy. "Ew, no way. Those are gross…do you have any Apple Spiders?" Grinning I handed him the bag and he pulled out a few. They were bright green spider shaped candies. He handed me one and I looked at the sugar crystal spider in my hand. Suddenly the spider twitched and moved crawling around on the palm of my hand. Jumping I accidently dropped the spider and it hit the ground shattering into a bunch of green shards. Gabriel laughed and put a spider into him mouth. "You have to be careful about them, their impish little creatures." He said chewing. "You didn't tell me it would still be living!" I said punching him in the arm. Wincing Gabriel rubbed his arm and glared at me. "It's not alive; it's just a spell to make it move. Even witches aren't that mean as to make live spiders into candy." He said eating another spider. We continued to talk about candies and other random things before walking into the stable. I took Light's saddle and bridle off and brushed him down as Gabriel walked over to the water barrel and washed his face. I put Light into his stable and gave him a mixture of carrots and oats, and then filled his water bucket full. I put a few apples in the water and watched as Light pulled one of the apples out and ate it. Smiling I patted his head and walked over to Gabriel. "Do you want to go into the kitchen, get some food, and then I can treat your cuts." I asked him as he cleaned my napkin. "Yeah that would be wonderful." He said handing me the damp cloth as we walked towards the castle. We walked up to the kitchen door and Gabriel waited outside as I slipped in. I was able to grab a bunch of rolls and some meat and was about to slip back out of the kitchen when I heard a voice behind me: "Lillian Goldenday what are you doing in my kitchen?!" Wincing I turned around hiding the food in my cloak. "Oh, hallo Brianna. How are you today?" I asked the kitchen master who was standing in front of me. "Why is a servant girl in my kitchen? You're not stealing anything are you?" She asked me suspiciously looking around me. "Oh, no Brianna. I would never steal from our wonderful kitchen master." I said smoothly. Suddenly Brianna grinned and looked proud of herself, "Well of course I'm wonderful. I'm glad someone finally realized how amazing I am!" She said turning away from me. While she was looking away I turned and ran out of the kitchen. I gave Gabriel some of the rolls and meat as we walked to my room. As he ate I bandaged and cleaned his wounds. We finished eating and walked out of my room towards the stair case when we passed the twins. "Hey! Lily, where are our things?" They asked me holding their hands out. Sighing I handed then their package, "You could at least thank me for going to town for you." I told them walking towards Gabriel. "Too bad you were out. Prince Xavier said he wanted to eat lunch with you, but you were gone and we took your place. But it's not like we could have known that ahead of time." They taunted. I stopped and looked at them. "You little snakes!" I yelled at them and lunged towards them grabbing the fronts of their shirts. "How did you know that Xavier wanted to eat with me today?" I asked them. Grinning they looked at me, "Mother heard from Queen Tina yesterday. And of course she told us so we could get you out of the castle today." I shook them and pushed them away. "I hate you!" I screamed and ran away from them down the stairs, past Gabriel, and out of the doors into the orchard. I ran through the trees until I stopped at a small pond. I sat next to the pond on a rock staring at the water as small silver and blue fish swam around. "Why do they insist on ruining my life and any opportunity to hang out with Xavier? He's my friend; all they care about is him being the prince." I said out loud. I stared at the fish and opened my tote bag pulling out the bag of Star Rocks. Multi colored stars fell out into my hand and I popped them into my mouth. Different fruit flavors came out of the candies and they develop into powder in my mouth. One of the stars fell out of my hand into the pond. The coloring swirled out of the star into the water and the star disintegrated in the water. The fish came and ate some of the powder until it was all gone. I threw a handful of the candy into the water and watched the fish eat them. I sighed and sat there feeding the fish as the sun went down. When the bad of Star Rocks were empty I put it in my tote bag, and saw that the package to Xavier was still in there. "I'll have to give it so him later." I said out loud. "Give what to whom?" a voice asked me. I turned and looked around, but saw no one. Confused I looked back at the pond and saw a small boy sitting on top of the large rock that overlooked the pond. He was about seven, with shaggy brown hair and black eyes. He was wearing a dark purple suit with black stars scattered on in, black shoes, and a midnight blue hat with roses and feathers sticking out from all sides. "Who…who are you?" I asked him and he looked at me. He smiled and tilted his head to the side and continued to stare at me, like he hadn't ever seen a girl. "Uh…hi?" I said standing up and looking behind me. "Ello!" He suddenly said in a very happy voice. There was a slight Irish or Scottish accent. "Why are you here?" he asked me. "Uh…I got in a fight with my cousins and-" I started. "No~" he interrupted dragging to "O" out for a few seconds, "Why are you here? At my pond?" he asked and smiled at me again. This time there was something evil about his smile. "Oh, I didn't know this was your pond, I just found it and started to feed the fish and I-" suddenly the boy started laughing. "You silly girl, no human can feed my fish, not unless they are…" he stopped and looked at my tote bag. "What do you have in there?" he asked. "Uh…some candy and coins and-" I said before he held his hand out and pulled it back towards him. Suddenly the bag was yanked out of my hands and flew into his. "Hey! Give that back!" I yelled at him as he dug around inside it. He looked at the bag and suddenly gasped pulling the tiara out. "Where…where did you get this?" he asked quietly. "My friend gave it to me." I lied looking into the water. I looked up and the boy was gone. "You are lying." He said into my ear. I turned around and saw the boy standing behind me. "Alright, all I know was that a wand went off over my head and the sparks became that. The owner let me keep it because it was formed to my head she said." I told him reaching for my bag but he disappeared again, making it so I only caught air. I turned back to look at him and noticed my tote bag was on the ground next to my feet. The boy was back on the rock holding the crown in his hands looking at me. "You don't realize what this is, do you?" he paused and watched as I shook my head. "This is made out of pure silver and opal, the craftsmanship of this is amazing, and the design I've only seen once in my lifetime. This is not just a tiara; this is a symbol of The Golden One." I stared at him for a second thinking that he would start laughing and tell me he was joking; but his face remained serious. "The Golden One? What does that even mean?" I asked him pulling the tote bag on. "It means your special, magical, amazing, mystical." He told me staring into the pond. "Just look, look at what you've done to my fish." I raised my eye brow and looked into the pond. The small gray and blue fish had become multicolored, with wings sprouting out of their back. A few jumped out of the water and flew around me, spreading water droplets around like fairy dust. A beautiful black and silver fish with white wings flew to me and landed onto my hand. I lifted it up to my face and it stared at me with wide blue eyes. Suddenly it opened its mouth and blew a soft gray mist into my face. The mist smelt like vanilla and roses. I blinked and the fish flew over and landed on my shoulder. "You really are something aren't you?" the boy asked me. "These are not fish, they are magenty, magical beings that can change form and will bind together with the one they find worthy. The only other time a magenty had bound to someone was a very long time ago, to a young boy with red hair and metallic eyes. The magenty bound to him and saved his life many times, until the boy stopped being a boy." He told me sitting back down. "Until the boy stopped being a boy? What does that mean?" I asked looking at the fish…no… magenty on my shoulder. He laughed and looked at me with his tilted head. "You, my friend, ask too many questions." "So does that mean you're not going to answer me? What's your name anyway?" I asked him. He smiled and ignored my question. "I'll tell you, later though." his said. His voice sounded different, deeper, sweeter maybe. "Tell me now!" I yelled at him. Now my voice was different, softer, more life a melody than a voice. "Amazing! You can speak Espherian. You must have been taught when you were younger, or maybe it was your native language." He said glancing at the now star lit sky. "What are you saying? you're crazy! Give me my tiara back!" I yelled at him holding my hand out, my voice sounding normal again. "Maybe later, but for now, come with me." He told me shaking the magenty off. "What!? There is no way I'm going anywhere with you!" I yelled at him backing up. He sighed and lifted his hand up. I was instantly floating in the air. I moved towards him as he walked to the edge of the cliff he had been on. Turning to me he smiled and stepped off. I followed quickly behind him, still floating. I fell through a bunch of leaves and plants into a tunnel. There was quite a lot of space in the tunnel, and soft moss and grass lined the edges. Thousands of different colored flowers flew past me creating a beautiful mix of scents and colors. If I wasn't so freaked out by the fall I would have to think that this was the most beautiful place in the world. The fall suddenly stopped and I came out of the tunnel to land on a pile of moss and ferns. I pulled my face out of the moss and looked up to see a much older, good looking version of the boy that I had been talking to. He grinned and offered me his hand. "Now then, Lily, shall we talk?"
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