Chapter 2

I escaped. I escaped the palace. Now what?

I looked back at the Guard at the side of the palace gates and chuckled guiltily to myself as I saw that his eyes were still covered by a non-existent snaky, silvery mist that he probably could not get off until I left Everlight. I shrugged and thought to myself, Looks like 'Mr Irresponsible Guard' would be in trouble once Mother and Callisto found out that he had let me leave.

I silently apologized to him for his coming torture and quickly went on my way, pulling the grey robe tighter around my body. I passed by some fairies and whenever my eyes locked with theirs, they would immediately go into a daze, much like what the Guard had experienced, complete with silvery mist snaking all over their eyes.

That was all thanks to Magic. Of all the elements that I could control, Magic was my strongest element. Not many had that element as their core element, and I was thankful that I was one of those rare fairies. I loved the feel of Magic on my fingertips and the way it made me feel all-powerful and in-charge, not anything like a lowly orphan-turned-princess-turned-servant that I was.

I passed tall, wonderful trees that was probably home to many fairies and silently hoped that they would not poke their heads out to see their servant-princess with no wings. I ducked under a very short tree and caused the leaves to ruffle slightly. This was harder than I thought. Walking was harder than flying, especially when I could feel my weight on my feet.

Butterflies tried to follow me, but I was in no mood to play Flying-Games with them, for one thing, I was wing-less, and for the other, I just needed to leave Everlight as fast as my heavy feet could take me. I shooed them away and I could almost hear their sigh of disappointment.

After walking towards the exit of Everlight for a very long time, I was about ready to give up until I saw the trees parting and the ivory gates of Everlight was seen. I broke into a run and was amazed at how fast my feet were and how weightless it felt to run.

Getting out of Everlight was easy, but leaving my whole world behind was hard. I have been born and protected under the shelter of this land for sixteen years and I was being stupid for even thinking of leaving. Just a step away from the exit, I looked back. The sky was getting dark. The tall trees looked menacing now, as though trying to tell me to leave. The butterflies no longer trailed after me. I was a little disappointed, and kind of expected some Grand Exit and a sad goodbye, but it was just eerily silent now.

I took a deep breath. I was sure of my decision now. I must leave. I need to. I should learn to live my own life, unrestricted and not accused of killing the only person who had ever loved me. Father… Without Father, my life here was nothing. I did not belong here. I was just an outsider. I was only an orphan and a servant to the Royals. I wanted freedom, the will to live. I must step into the Mortal World, get to know them and prove every fairy wrong. Mortals are not evil creatures. Hopefully, they would help.

I stepped over the boundaries of Everlight. Nothing happened. I expected some music, or the trees to sway, or thunder to rumble, or… something. But, it was still the eerie silent from before. I closed the ivory gates carefully behind me and stepped on the soil of the Mortal World. No fairy was ever allowed to enter the Mortals' territory.

But, they did not mention wingless fairies, did they?

I confidently walked down the pathless forest. I continued walking straight until I saw some Mortals, sitting around a fire. They were singing, with voices much similar to mine. Some had high voices, some low, but they were singing the same song, which I did not know. I decided to wait and watch before approaching them for help.

I hid behind a rock and got myself a good view of the Mortals. They were all smiling, clearly enjoying each other's company. There were five of them; one dark-haired male mortal who looked like the oldest there, a beautiful blonde female with ridiculously gorgeous blue eyes, another female with long blonde hair, another male with blue eyes and dark hair, and an adorable toddler sitting on the blue-eyed female's lap. In my haste to get a good look of them, I accidentally kneed the rock that I was hiding behind. I stifled a painful cry, but it seemed that the Mortals had extremely good hearing.

"Who's there?" a male voice greeted my presence. I continued hiding behind the rock, hoping that if I kept my mouth shut, they would leave me alone. "I know someone's there!" the voice continued. I froze. Footsteps rushed towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"It's just a girl, dad. Put that gun down," another male voice said. I blinked up at him. He was that boy with blue eyes and dark hair. He looked to be my age and had really good, soft-looking straight hair. He gave me a cute half-smile and put out his hand. I blushed and put my hand in his. He pulled me up. "What's your name?"

Oh, no. What do I call myself? Amara… Amara what? I smiled and said, "Amara…"

"Cool." He paused, and introduced himself, "I'm Cole Newton." Then, he gestured toward the other four Mortals, who were looking at me with curiosity. "They are my family." He pulled me towards the other Mortals and told me to sit down beside him.

I shifted nervously in the seat and cleared my throat, then gave a meek smile. "Hello. My name is Amara."

They all broke out into friendly hellos. The oldest one, which I presume was Cole's father, questioned me sternly, "Why are you here, Amara?"

Well, that was a question I was hoping they would not ask. "I am…" I paused, "lost."

The female sitting beside Cole's father, probably Cole's mother, kindly said, "Oh, dear. Do you know where you last saw your parents?"

"I—" I was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious sound of an animal coming from somewhere behind me near where I came out from. I knew someone had discovered my disappearance. I had to think of something to protect them. Fast. I turned towards the family of five with a panicked expression and breathlessly announced, "All of you have to get out of here." They looked at me like I was crazy. Well, that probably summed up my personality at this moment. "Trust me, please."

The parents of the family exchanged glances and the female told her husband, "Let's get out of here, George. I'm getting goose bumps." She glanced behind me and sensing the hole of creepy darkness, she shivered.

"Alright, kids. Pack up and get your stuff in the car," Mr Newton instructed his family. Everyone started getting to work, packing their stuff and rushing to leave. I stood there awkwardly, observing the family's unity. I could not help but feel slightly envious of their relationship.

"What about Amara?" Cole asked. He was so cute with his dark hair falling over his eyes. He might even be cuter than the toddler beside him.

"Yea, it'll be wrong to abandon a lost girl here in the middle of the woods," the girl with the long blonde hair commented. That was the first time I heard her talk, and looking at her closely, I realized that she looked exactly like her mother.

I did not want to follow them and lead the unknown animal that was following me to them. I did not want them to get hurt, no matter how weird that sounded. "No, no, no! It is okay. I will find my parents eventually."

Mr Newton chuckled. "That's funny, Amara. We'll just bring you to the local police station and your parents can find you there, how's that sound?"

What is a 'police station'?

Instead of asking them what that place was, I just smiled and nodded. The five of us, excluding the toddler, who could not walk, rushed towards the edge of the woods and I was surprised to see a red-colored object. It was shaped weirdly, and indescribable.

The Newton family went into the object using the door by the sides. I followed them and ended up squeezed in between Cole and his sister. The seat in it was quite comfortable and cold air was blowing from the front of the object. Mr Newton started the object and kept spinning the wheel in front of him every few seconds, causing the whole object to turn. Later, I realized it was some sort of a vehicle.

I was a little jumpy in the vehicle and kept asking everyone questions about themselves. I found out that the blonde girl beside me was Kelly and 17, one year older than me. We got along very well and she was very friendly towards me. I chatted with the adults and they were extremely nice to me. The infant's name was Cady and she liked me, surprisingly. Cole told me that my eyes were pretty and I had blushed because of that. I did not know what a police station was, and was quite interested of what my future as an almost mortal would be like.