As I stood in the over flowering terrace, which was the roof and base of support for the Diqui, I pondered the changes in my life. My toes tensed where they were embedded and completely bare in the thick, floral carpet when a male fae ran around the corner and spotted me. We stared at each other for a timeless moment before I dropped to the floor and he took fire, his hands flying our and releasing a vicious flow of pure magical energy at my head. I stumbled to my feet and ran before plunging off the edge of the building and summoning my wings. They shot out behind me in a vibrant of explosion of every colour you could ever imagine. It was a shade of white so pure, it burned to stare at, that surrounded and seemed to hold together the rainbow of my wings.
I longed for the safety and normality of my flutter before the divination ceremony. When I could get home from human school and spend my time swallowed by a good story or float among the giant flowers encompassing my sky. I could ignore the impending ceremony that would dictate my every thought, action and feelings for the rest of my life.
There were four Flutters in the area; the Diqui users ruled, the Inferno handlers protected, the Aqueous manipulators educated and healed and the Hawa benders controlled mail and transport around the city. The peace between Flutters was kept for generations, until I was chosen.
I was moving towards the main city when someone flew into me from above. I grunted before flipping over and blasting my attacker with a harsh torrent of boiling water. He dodged and I regretted to see it was my brother. We looked nothing alike; he had the dark hair, olive skin and red eyes of the Inferno, while I had the white hair and a matching pair of ice-like eyes of my kind. I used to look just like him. But then the ceremony happened, and looking at him now, I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to that day.
I was nervous. Not in the 'I've got butterflies way', but in the 'something terrible is going to happen' way. I was standing in the middle of the giant Tulip, which was larger than any human stadium.
The walls were a deep, luscious red and the floor was equal in intensity, but green. There were 42 young adults, just like me, waiting for their turn to drink the 'magical dew' that would give us our wings and determine to which flutter we'd belong.
We all looked plain, due to having to blend into the human world for the first 17 years of our life. This was supposed to give us an understanding as to why we had to protect and work in harmony with the large populace. But all it made me understand was that most humans are idiots.
There were two people in front of me, one was a girl named Kailia, from my human English class, and the other was my brother.
As the brown haired Kailia moved to the front, I watched as she took a chalice from the Elder and dipped it into the billowing fountain in the centre of the room and sipped. Before my eyes, her long brown hair turned a bright yellow, her wings stretched behind her, in a matching colour, designed for speed and as she looked up from drinking, I saw her eyes become illuminated with a violet shade of purple. She was part of the Hawa. Cheers from one side of the room exploded as what I assumed were family members flocked around her, admiring their re-born child. The group moved to the other side of the room.
Then it was my brothers turn, I expected Inferno. Our family had always been a part of that Flutter, since the Creations. I saw I was right, as his blonde hair turned a deep black and his ocean eyes turned a ruby red. His wings were amazing. They stretched out in what seemed to be twice his total body length. He smiled at me and then winked. He mouthed the words "See you soon," and I felt my stomach twist as he flew up to the platform housing the rest of the Inferno's.
It was my turn.
"What are you doing here, Jahile?" My tone was cold and showed no recognition towards my once brother.
"Looking for you," He smiled at me and moved to hug me. I threw an unrelenting barrier of air against his approach. I knew I couldn't stay strong if he came any closer.
"Don't." It came out weaker then I wanted. I missed him.
"I know what you're thinking, but Mum sent me with a message."
"Then you should've gone straight to the elder."
"I can't do that, you know she would obliterate me before I got within a hundred meters." He was right. My kind weren't the friendliest.
I moved to fly around him, and then I was surrounded on all sides by a wall of fire, I paused.
"We have the elixir, Alisse. We can save the elder, and you can return to us. We don't have to hunt you down. You can be my sister again."
It wasn't that simple, the whole reason behind my existence was to become the new elder. No matter how many people died, or how much time passed; I would not die until I became the strongest being in the universe. We had the powers of every element, and the abilities of every Flutter and even something unique, just for us. This unique power was the power of Essence. We controlled life. We dictated every little detail of life. We made the flowers the Diqui made blossom. We created the existence of water and fire for the Inferno and Aqueous. The Earth rotated and air was created for the Hawa to bend to their whims. The humans have a word for what we are, we are Gods. I looked towards my brother and dismantled the fire wall. I felt more than saw other fae below us, circling, waiting to close in and take a shot at me. I was being hunted. The knowledge of the future was something I hadn't received yet. That would come when Elder Ariana passed. I was the 13th Elder to exist, and I would be the last. Ariana foretold the end of the world and while I didn't believe it, the Elder is never wrong.
"It's too late, Jahile. It's almost time to go."
Before I could think about what I was doing, I dissipated the air barrier and hugged him tight. Silvery tears leaked from the edges of my eyes as I turned and flew away.
I could feel Ariana dying, I could feel the end. It was time and the end was me.
