All Amanda Gordon wanted was a break.

She wanted a break from the mountains, which were so high that they made her feel sick. From the humidity that did funny things to her hair. From the way that the name of her new town sounded like a rejected breakfast cereal. All she wanted was her old life back, and maybe a little less sunlight. It was getting in her eyes as she drove.

She got her wish. It just wasn't quite the way she expected to.


The best thing about being the only student in the Royal Fairy Academy was that if Leilani nicely requested an independent study period rather than her core "human" classes, the teachers were more than willing to comply; after all, it meant a day off for them. So Leilani headed to the large school library and savored some alone time.

The library was, according to Bloom, almost an exact copy of the lost Library of Alexandria… content-wise, anyway. The appearance was that of a normal school library, but there were scrolls and books on almost every topic, including fairy magic and wizardry.

The only major modification to school library design was the intricate pedestal near the circulation desk… a fairy card catalog which could find whatever book your heart desired. Luckily for Leilani, the device didn't run on the user's magic, but had magic of its own. That meant she was able to lay her hands on it and declare "I want to know how wizards become wizards."

There was a brief moment of nothing, then a large book flew to her, landing on the pedestal. It was open a little past the halfway point, open to what seemed to be a story. The heading was "The Story of Agrippine."

Leilani paused. She hadn't wanted story; she had wanted fact. Bloom had told her, however, that these sorts of things always had reason. If the library said you wanted a book, there was a ninety-nine percent chance it was what you wanted. Another point nine percent was dedicated to information you didn't think you wanted, but then you realized you did.

She sighed and began to read.


In the time when fairies were only beginning to learn that their freedom was short-lived, there existed a young woman named Agrippine. Almost the last of her clan left alive or uncaptured, she cared for her younger half-brother, a human boy whose name remains lost to history. Both siblings were brave and strong, and they loved each other more than any other. This did not show signs of change… though Agrippine was of age to begin bearing children, she showed no interest in any man, nor any woman, that might lie with her.

The siblings lived a magical life, though the boy showed no magic. Agrippine was a true fairy and warrior, and showed concern when her friends vanished one by one. Scared for the life of her younger brother, who was but nine summers old and unable to live alone, she too decided to vanish, but of her own will. The two found a cottage in the dead of the woods, where none would find them. As the boy was human, with a thirst for knowledge, he would walk two miles each day to attend school, but this was the only time either would leave their home.

One day, the boy did not come home.

Agrippine was full of grief. Of all the things she had expected to happen, she had never expected anything to happen to the last bit of her family. Only to her. After a night of mourning, she took a knife and began to sharpen it, intent on ending her life.

As she pointed it to her breast, the door opened and her brother walked in in tears. Agrippine dropped the weapon and went to him, and he told his story.

A fairy much like her was being dragged away by a band of wizards. Though she looked nothing like Agrippine, he could only see his sister in her, so stood up for her life and allowed her to escape as the wizards focused their attention on him. As one attacked him, his left ear was burned off by a bolt of magic. Seeing this, they subjected him to a strange ritual. His sacrifice became power, and he was bound to their clan. He had run off, but they were pursuing him. Only by his knowledge of the woods, bested not even by their best tracking spells, had he made it home before they caught him.

Agrippine cursed. She knew that these were the kidnappers and killers of her kind, and that they had made her own brother irreversibly theirs. Her voice sharp, she ordered her brother to take her knife and cut off her fairy wings. Though reluctant, he did so, knowing that this action would make the clan he was bound to very proud and believing his sister was trying to die with honor.

As the wings fell to the ground, she asked the boy to repeat the ritual.

He understood, and he obliged.

It was only minutes after the ceremony was completed that the pack of wizards showed up, having used magic to track the young boy. Though they had felt the presence of a fairy, it was no more. Instead, there stood two wizards of their clan, resigned to their fate, but not pleased with it.

There is no more record to tell of their future, be that rejection, death, or acceptance, but the story of Agrippine… a tragedy of love and family… will live on as record in and of itself.


"What are you reading?"

Leilani jumped. Behind her, standing quietly, was Tora. She was about to shut the book, feeling guilty for wanting to know how to become a wizard, when the fairy of education peeked at the book's contents and smiled grimly. "I see. Agrippine's tale."

Leilani opened her mouth to beg for forgiveness, but Tora continued. "Did you know that's one of the most controversial tales in fairy literature? Do you want to talk about the story and its implications with me? I really like seeing what other people have to say about it."

There wasn't much of a way to say no. Leilani sat down at a nearby table, taking the book with her, and Tora sat across from her. "Do you think she did the right thing?" asked the teacher.

Leilani frowned. She hadn't even wondered. Whether or not Agrippine was right, the same results came, whatever those results were. "I don't know."

"Some say that she did as any fairy should. Love and family come first, and all fairies should try to live that. Our former queen, Morgana? She is almost the posterchild for that side of the debate. She found a way to balance her sister and her husband and daughter eventually, but there once was a time where she chose love over duty and family. Hers may have been an even harder choice than Agrippine's," laughed Tora. "I expect that one day fairies will study Morgana's decisions too."

"What's the other belief?"

Tora sobered. "Terrestrial fairies are known around the magical dimension as the most ruthless warriors. Anything that stands in our way should be destroyed. Queen Nebula was even willing to capture or murder her own sister and niece to win the war she'd been fighting for centuries. The fairies who believe Agrippine to be wrong say that she should have killed her brother and ran, or at the very least, she should have abandoned him. She wasn't driven enough to win. She was weak."

"She insisted her wings be cut off! She joined with the enemy, despite hating them!" exclaimed Leilani. "She was anything but weak."

"Yeah, I agree." Tora smiled slightly. "Maybe I believe in a little bit of both. To join with the enemy was wrong, but to run away? Isn't that just as pitiful? I don't think there was ever a right choice for poor Agrippine."

They sat in silence for a moment, then Leilani asked a question. "How do they know all of this, but not what happened next?"

"Someone used their Tracix powers to see the past. That's how we get a lot of our history recorded accurately. The Wizards of the Black Circle left the old hut where Agrippine and her brother lived before they chose what would happen; I think they said they were going to discuss and take a vote within the clan to decide how they would deal with the siblings. Since it happened elsewhere and we're not sure of the location, we can't really be sure what happened."

"What do you think happened?"

Tora thought. "She wouldn't be a fairy anymore, but they would probably know of her hatred… in other words, she wouldn't be someone they could use. I doubt she'd let her brother go with them, and she would fight to the death to be around him. So I'd chance that either they let the two go, or they're both dead."

Two different thoughts sprung up in her head at the same time. To think that there was a wizard who might hate what was happening to the fairies… to think that she might hate them with all her heart! That was someone Leilani wanted to meet. She wanted to know all of the things that wizard knew, and she wanted to convince the former fairy to fight.

To think she was dead, though? That was simply disheartening.

"Has anyone ever tried to find her?"

"Not recently. Back before the war's end, the view that she was a weak traitor was more popular than the view that she was a model of love. Fairies tried to hunt her down, but it was like she vanished. Magical beings don't die easily, so though death was always a possibility, it's no more likely than the idea that she and her brother have been hiding out somewhere for years."

That made Leilani feel better, but there was still something nagging on her mind. "Why do we not know the boy's name if they can just use powers to see the past? Surely Agrippine called him by name at some point."

"He's a man. Fairy history tends to not really care. I had a teacher, though, who was curious, so she went and used her powers on her own to find out. That's where the Wizards caught her, actually." Tora frowned. "I forget what she told me his name was."

Leilani rose and closed the book. "Thanks for telling me all that, Tora."

"No problem! As I said, I always love to talk about Agrippine." Tora stood and started out of the library, not before calling back, "If you ever want some really good recommendations for fairy literature, or just someone to talk to about it, I'm open."

"Will do. Thanks!"

Then Tora was gone, and Leilani stood, clutching the book in her hands.

Bloom was right. The library knew that she had wanted this, even though hadn't realized it herself.


It was raining when the Core Four entered Kamloops. In fact, it was storming.

"Can't you do anything about this, Saf?" exclaimed Avi. It was her turn to drive, and she was all but squinting just to see past the large droplets of water.

Saf shook her head. "I can keep lightning from striking us, but that's about it. I'm the fairy of lightning, not weather."

Avi cursed. "How much farther, Lysis?"

"We're two miles from the hotel."

"We are going to die before getting there."

"A car crash won't kill us," Lysis scoffed.

"It'll hurt though, won't it?" asked Roxy, not looking up from her cell phone. Saf glanced over to see her playing an anime rhythm game that looked horribly difficult, but she seemed to be doing a good job.

Lysis ducked her head. "Yes," she admitted.

"Okay then. Avi, please don't crash. I'm trying to get a full combo."

"Teenagers and their cell phones," muttered Lysis.

Avi sighed loudly. "Lysis! You're only five or six years older than we are!"

"Being trapped with all the elder fairies for ten years must have rubbed off on her," Saf suggested.

It was a good thing they were so close to their hotel. They had spent seven hours on a plane just to get to Gardenia. While they were there, they had quickly briefed Nebula on the status of the school and their current mission before using one of the cars available there to cross the country border into Canada. They had been on the road for almost a full day, switching drivers every few hours. Despite chances to sleep in the car, and stretching their legs at multiple rest stops, they were all getting quite cranky.

As they pulled into the hotel, Roxy wanted to immediately get out and stretch her legs, but doing that in pouring rain seemed like a really bad idea. "Do you think it's going to let up anytime soon, Lysis?" she asked.

"Saf should be able to tell you that," said the biology fairy with a yawn.

"Lysis, I just told Avi I was the fairy of…"

"Lightning. Which means you could sense how far the lightning goes, if you try."

Saf's mouth formed a little "o," then she closed it and her eyes in a look of concentration. "It goes for kilometers," she said eventually. "More than I can guess at. It'll probably be storming the entire time we're here. Even if it stops storming, the rain could go a lot farther than the lightning does."

"How long are we going to be here?" asked Roxy as she stretched. "And how are we going to find this fairy? Just wait for the Apprentices to show up again?"

A wicked grin spread along Lysis's face. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small device. It looked like a modified Taser: a box, two metal prongs, and an on/off switch. When Lysis flipped it on, however, the prongs glowed grey. "Gunner seemed to be in such a hurry that they left their fairy tracker in the kitchen of the pizza parlor. Avi and I played around with it until we figured out how to make our magical signals immune to reacting to it. It can't trace any of us four."

"Which is not only great because it means we won't get in the way of finding new fairies, it also means that if Gunner gets their tracker back, they can't find us anymore. Even if they build a new one, it shouldn't work, provided they use the same basic plan," Avi added with a smirk. She raised a hand lazily, and Lysis high-fived her. Roxy was only slightly surprised; though the two didn't initially get along, Lysis's adoration of science and Avi's mastery of tools made a good combination that even they couldn't deny. "Now anyway, here's the plan. I'm pulling the car up to the door. You guys grab our bags and make a dash for it. Lysis, you check us in. I'll take the brunt of the sacrifice and park."

"Sounds good," Roxy said. She grabbed her own duffle bags and Lysis's suitcase; Saf picked up the belongings of herself and Avi. As soon as the car stopped in front of the door, they made a dash for it.

It only took ten steps to get into the hotel, but they were still soaked. It felt refreshing, though, just a bit. The teenagers laughed as they sat down and waited for Lysis to get their room key.

Fifteen minutes later, they were in their hotel room, ready for the mission briefing. Lysis was leading the conversation. "Nebula got us two very special papers. They allow us to bypass normal registration procedures just about anywhere."

"And that means?" asked Avi as she jumped on one of the two king-sized beds.

Lysis rolled her eyes. "It means that two of you are going undercover in one of the local secondary schools. I've pinpointed the place our fairy spends most of her day, and that would be it."

"Which two of us?" asked Roxy.

Lysis smiled. "That's up to you."

Roxy wasn't sure how she felt about making decisions. The whole thing still seemed like a bad idea; she was only in charge because she was a princess, it seemed. Lysis was just as powerful as she was; Saf and Avi were just as modern.

Even so, this was an easy decision. "Saf and I will go," said Roxy.

Avi breathed a sigh of relief as she bounced. "Thank god. I came here to get away from high school, not to go back in. I'm glad someone recognizes that."

Lysis smiled a little. "Okay. You two start tomorrow. Remember to have fun and find our fairy quickly, but you might not want to blow your cover."

"Why?" Saf asked. "What does it matter if people know we're fairies? I'll admit magic isn't commonplace yet, but neither is it unheard of."

"Without the tracking device, we're hoping they don't find anyone, but if Gunner had a backup then they'll know there's a fairy here. What they won't know is that we are, so we'll have surprise on our side. We need every advantage we can get."

"Do they get codenames?" asked Avi, finally jumping off the bed and onto the floor. "Man, now I wanna go. I want a codename."

"I think codenames would be too easy to trip up," said Saf. "If we messed up, it would draw more suspicion then if we went by our real names. Anyway, Roxy isn't uncommon as a name, and I don't think the Apprentices know who I am. Even if they've heard someone call me Saf, they're likely to assume it's short for Sapphire, not Safeyah. Almost everyone does."

"Good point," Lysis agreed. "We'll try to stick to real names in the future as well. All of us," she said with a pointed look towards Avi.

Avi laughed. "Maybe you shouldn't. I've heard of other Avalons, but never another Lysis. Don't you have any nicknames?"

Lysis blinked. "Lysis is my nickname. My full name is Lyriania Siciline."

There was a moment of dead, shocked silence before Roxy asked, "Really?"

"No." Lysis gave the smallest bit of a smile. "I was making a joke. Lysis is my full name, and yes, Avi, it's uncommon. It refers to the gradual decline of disease symptoms… my parents hoped I'd be a lucky charm against the Wizards."

Her smile grew, not just in size, but in grimness. "I wasn't much help against them, but maybe I can still do something about their Apprentices."


It was still raining that blessed, cleansing rain Amanda had hoped for when she entered her school the next day. Nobody paused to tell her "hello," or asked what she had done the previous night. At this point, she wasn't sure if it was because she was the new kid, or because nobody liked her. It had been a while since she moved from Slave Lake, but maybe not long enough to have any real friends.

Her fluffy light brown hair barely touched her shoulders as she moved down the hallway, and though they wouldn't speak to her, she could see other girls stare in obvious jealousy. The rain had flattened their hair. Hers looked like it had barely been touched, although small drops of water sparkled on each strand like dew. Amanda closed her grey eyes appreciatively for a moment. She wasn't typically pretty, with her chub and her curves, but man, did she have decent hair.

Take that, every girl native to Kamloops! Hah!

She hit the ground.

Opening her eyes, it took a moment to figure out what had happened. She was on the floor, lying on her back. On top of her was a pretty girl with dark brown skin and black hair. She looked embarrassed. "Oh my!" she exclaimed in a British accent. "I am so sorry! Please accept my apologies!"

"Of course," Amanda agreed. She didn't even have to think about that. The girl was super pretty; other flaws could be forgiven. As the girl stood, so too did Amanda. "I haven't seen you around here," she said, which was a very dumb thing upon immediate reflection. Her secondary school was the largest in Kamloops; she was sure she hadn't seen half the student body.

"I'm new," the girl said apologetically. "I was running to get to class and I didn't see you around the corner…"

"Relax, I'm new myself. I just moved here a few months ago. Where are you from?" Again, dumb. She was obviously British.

"Lately, the United States. Originally, Egypt."

Man, this girl kept surprising her. "Uh. What's your name?"

"Saf. Saf Hafeij."

"Nice to meet you, Saf! I'm Amanda Gordon. Now, where are you trying to go? I could help you get there, if you want."

Saf smiled. It was a lovely smile and Amanda felt a pang of what was either jealousy or admiration. "I'm looking to go to French."

"The regular class, or the immersion class?"

"The regular one, please."

Amanda pointed to a door only one down from where they were standing. "It's right there," she said, vaguely disappointed she didn't get to walk Saf to her class. It would have been nice to begin to form a friendship. Still, there would be other opportunities… or not. She could never see Saf again, and it would be totally plausible in a school as big as this one was.

Saf smiled that smile again and raced over to the door. "Thank you!" she cried over her shoulder.

Amanda stood there. I need to be that girl's friend.

When the bell rang, she looked at her feet as if blaming them for her lateness. Her feet, however, were not the only thing on the floor. A rounded smartphone in a blue case lay next to her shoe, and she picked it up. "This probably belongs to Saf," Amanda deduced aloud. "I can't go bursting into her class to give it to her. Maybe…" Maybe she would keep it. Not forever. Just to make sure she could see the girl again.

There was no passcode to the phone. She looked at the apps that were pulled up, just to see about clues on how to contact the girl. One such clue was a text app.

There was one new text, from a Roxy. Go ahead, it read.

Amanda clicked on the text to see the whole conversation. Just for context.

She almost dropped the phone again.

Located the target, Amanda Gordon. Permission to intercept?


AN: I love a little drama at the end of a chapter, don't you? xD

Amanda Gordon belongs to Chibi Horsewoman. I hope I'm doing okay with her so far!

Thanks for all the reviews, everyone. I love it when you tell me your favorite lines and what made you laugh, and most of all I ADORE predictions! So thanks to everyone who's giving them. :)