Chapter 28
Back in high school, I was always saving Alex. When he first transferred in, I would remind him about upcoming assignments, quizzes, and tests. He hadn't quite gotten the whole 'calendar' thing down yet. Basically every day during PE, he would trail behind the others. So, I made it a habit to open the door for everyone until he finally showed up so that he wouldn't get locked out. Once, in drivers' education, I had to completely take hold of the wheel while he was practicing to keep us from plummeting into a ditch on the side of the practice trail.
Now, look at us. He stood in front of me with a face manlier than I had ever seen, and a stance like a lioness protecting its cubs. I knew now that he wasn't human. I knew now that he was different than me. And definitely stronger than me. But, when had our roles switched?
I suddenly experienced tunnel vision, unable to see the action occurring past Alex's long, tan arm. He was blocking me from getting hurt, but I couldn't help but feel slightly insulted. They were all barricading me. They were preparing to protect me because I was a weak human. I had rarely felt such a strong sense of powerlessness.
After Meghan had declared her efforts, I saw her body start to shimmer with golden sheen. Glamour. I was growing accustomed to seeing this bright and unique shine, even though I still didn't understand the reasoning and purpose behind it. I knew enough to figure that, when Meghan's glamour started to agglomerate around her arm, I should back the hell up.
From her fingers shot a block of green light with a spindle of silver glimmer twirling around it. The glamour collided with one of the side walls of the hall and, once in made contact, began to spread like splashing water. The conflicting existences began to swirl around and around until they almost blended together. They curled into a dome, forming their exterior out of the wall, and curved into a perfect convex structure. Once the light faded, leaving behind its extensive creation, I couldn't help but gasp.
In its place stood a weary but solid structure of metallic branches and thorny silver coils, woven together to create a shield as thick as a bank vault. The structure itself was not large, nor did it look particularly stable, but there was an opening on the side to suggest its function as a fence to protect the weaker of us in the room. AKA: me. I could definitely appreciate Meghan's attempts to defend us, even though, as a half-human herself, she couldn't possibly match up to Puck or Oberon or a dragon. Still, this formation was quaint in an abnormal sort of way. It reminded me of a modernized version of the briars that surrounded Sleeping Beauty's castle.
Meghan barked an order, waking me from my delirious thoughts. "Okay, you kids and Silvia, get behind the wall! We'll take care of this!" She sprung forward without confirming that we had even heard her.
As Mae and Soren bolted toward the shield without abandon, I stayed for a few moment, unsure whether I was doing so out of fear for my comrades or if I was still frozen with shock.
I watched as Alex's back faced me, his black wings shimmering with starlight via the demolished wall. In barely a second, his wings had spread, slowly unfurling and expanding with the grace of a swan. They had reached their maximum size. Approximately a fifteen-foot wingspan. How had he managed to compact those monstrous things to such an extent? They swooped high above either of our heads, but they mysteriously looked natural on him. A kind of dignity and elegance that seemed to suit a rich boy like him. A single feather drifted down from his right wing, ejected by the force of the wings opening. I fought my urge to catch to in my palm.
Alex swiped a stick from off the ground—a spear that one of the guards had dropped—and an expression with obviously forced determination and vigor clouded his face. I wanted to jump in front of him, push him out of the way and throw myself in front of the dragon instead. But what would happen? Dismembering and eviscerating me would take only a moment before he'd be on to the main courses once again. My place was behind the shield, where I couldn't get in the way. As powerful as Excalibur apparently was, the wielder still did not have the skills or confidence to go against such an impressive foe. I had to flee.
I twisted my head to the left and my body began to pump adrenaline, but my jog was halted. From above my head, a pillar made of translucent, yellowish-green glamour rained down from the ceiling, landing to the marble floor with an enormous rumbling crash. I had barely started my run, but the force from the crash was enough to knock me backward, leaving me flailing through mid-air and landing with a crack onto my lower back. From my spot on the floor, I took a shaky, tentative glance up at the pillar that had been inches from crushing me.
It stretched all the way to the ceiling, about as wide around as a column of the Pantheon. The pillar shone with a soft but constant and serious gleam, producing its own image of protection and stability. It was clearly creating a podium on which the quivering, nearly demolished ceiling could rest, but it was not alone in this endeavor. Still on the floor, I peered around the hall and noticed several other pillars, all with the same type of shine and aura of dignity, forming a base on which the ceiling could remain. They were keeping the ceiling from collapsing on top of us.
But what fae was strong enough to do such a thing?
As if my mind was , I was soon presented with an answer. From across the hall, a booming voice caught the attention of all, even that of those still engaged in fierce combat with the dragon.
Standing in front of his crumbling golden throne, Oberon was fuming with acute rage. His beautiful, stoic face was red and twisted with anger and his fists were shaking while clutching a mound of thick, dark green glamour. If his appearance was not enough to enforce his demands, his actual words surely were.
"How dare you enter my hall without my invitation! What nerve have thee to enter my kingdom, attack my people, and demolish my royal hall?! Not one fool to do so has left my presence with their bodies in one piece!" I could practically see the steam escaping Oberon's ears as his rage swelled. The air around us began to vibrate as Titania and Mab, the Winter Queen, also began gathering their glamour, preparing for a violent and invigorating battle.
I heard the sounds of those fighting from my right. The sound of clanging metal against the dragon's rough exterior. The battle cries of several different creatures. The beating of massive wings. The feeling throughout the air of an impossible amount of glamour building up, only to be released in a single, explosive shot.
With so much stimulation surrounding me—a murderous royal court on one side and a gruesome mythical beast on the other—I had no idea where to go.
Suddenly, my body was rising from the ground, even though my limbs were numb. I felt a hard body behind me, picking me up harshly by the armpits, and the position instantly felt more uncomfortable when I heard my patron whisper in my right ear with a voice as smooth as velvet.
"Get behind the shield with those kids, okay?" Puck's voice was clearly desperate and scarce, but the simple fact that he was using his time away from the battle to save me almost brought tears to my eyes. "No offense, but you're kinda useless right now. We don't need you hanging around in no man's land, so just go hide with the kiddies and we'll come get you when all is well and good, okie dokie?"
I bit my lip as the numbness that I had felt for so long began to dissipate. I felt everything again. The pain in my left arm. My bruises. The weight of Excalibur on my hip. And annoyance at Puck's comment. "You don't need to patronize me like I'm a petulant child. I-I was heading there. I just reached an…obstacle. Don't be so bossy."
I couldn't see his face, but I just knew that he rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I'm the bossy one."
Once I was profoundly on my feet, I faced him with piercing eyes—
And stopped in my tracks when I saw his body.
His shirt was dirtied with patches of blood and several open wounds. He stood high above me, but the way that he seemed to prefer one side over another lead me to believe that he had injured on of his feet. His face, which was just as hatefully perfect as many of the other summer fae, was marred by a scratch on his chin and a nasty bruise on his head. What if that turned into a concussion? Yet, somehow my pride pursued and, swallowing hard, I was able to squeak out, "You don't know anything about me."
I shouldn't have taken my conflicting feelings out on Puck, but I couldn't deny that I was feeling slightly bitter. Very bitter. I was cognizant that I wasn't the only one being protected here. Puck, Alex, Meghan, and Ash were fighting to protect all of the fae in this hall. Yet, somehow, I felt insulted.
Admittedly, I was jealous.
I treated at least two of them as my friends already and seeing my 'friends' able to do such things was…painful. Seeing them bruised and beaten, like poor Puck, made me aggravated. I was jealous that they could do something while I sat on my ass, the only one in my group that couldn't even lift a finger to assist them. Even Soren and Mae were smart enough to go where they belonged and stay out of the stronger members' ways. I wasn't even competent enough to know where I wasn't needed.
Can someone even be considered an adult if they can't do anything for themself? If they can't protect their loved ones?
Ba-dump.
I didn't even want to peek over at Alex, fearing that his state would only be slightly better or, possibly, infinitely worse than Puck's. I didn't want to let myself see it. If I did, who's to say that I wouldn't do something stupid? If only I had the ability. If only I had the strength to just pick up a spear and chase after a dragon like my best friend.
When was the last time I heard the beating of his wings?
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
What right did I have to call myself an adult and posses such a superior attitude if all I showed in face of danger was wide-eyed weakness?
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
All of the sweat from my nerves had made me already tight outfit stick to my body like a second skin. My wild, tangled dark hair clung to my face flatly. My body was recognizing danger and instantly turning me into a nervous wreck.
These symptoms were exaggerated when, from my left, the royal court released an attack so large that its sound was delayed. For a moment, it dyed the entire hall blue, green, and gold. They released it like a sonic wave, and the shot passed barely over Puck and my heads. It clashed with the dragon's skin somewhere on its abdomen, making the dragon emit a roar much more ferocious and chilling than any of its previous. After such an attack, Puck and I clearly had no idea how it would fare, as we both watched the creature with impatient gazes.
However, after the light had faded, we saw the dragon still standing on its hind legs, still itching to battle. It had clearly been wounded, since there was a ghastly, bleeding hole on its side and its breathing was labored. However, only seconds afterwards, it smacked its tail against Ash, having obviously regained vigor.
Hurry. Hurry. I have to hurry. Whether it's the dragon or Oberon, someone is going to kill me.
"Kid, we really don't have time. You can go have your panic attack behind—shit."
"What?" I responded without considering the situation. Puck roughly shoved his hand over my mouth, silencing me as he glanced with wide eyes to his right.
It was then that I had realized that the clashing of metal against scaly skin maintained, but the dragon's vivacious roar had paused. An eerie silence followed as the sound of heavy breathing filled the room. Oberon, Titania, and Mab collaborated on another extensive final attack as those on the front lines continued to thrash and kick and maneuver around the huge beast.
However, it was startlingly clear that the dragon's beady yellow eyes were focused on Puck and me. And us alone.
With a heart-rending roar, it charged forward as all Hell broke lose. Ash, Meghan, and Alex all attacked at once, inciting a cry of pain from the dragon, but it was hardly enough to slow the dragon's stampede.
Oberon made his move as his glamour fell in sheets from the ceiling, creating a formation like a razor wire fence, only from vines and roots. The dragon was surely impeded by the fence, but its mind had only one track. It managed to shake through the barrier, receiving several hundred scratches and abrasions from the friction. It still headed toward Puck and me with decreased but withstanding vitality.
Puck wrapped his arms around me, preparing to lift off in an escape attempt. For that one moment, being inside of his arms was like resting in a fluffy bed or cuddling in a blanket next to a fire, almost unaware of the snowstorm that raged outside.
However, we couldn't move.
I heard Puck curse as he bounced on one foot, obviously unable to move with as much swiftness as usual because of his injury. He faced me, his normally playful and slyly grinning face conquered by dread in its purest sense. I could decipher what he was trying to communicate. The dragon was charging toward us at an unnatural rate and, as far as he went, there was no way for him to help us escape. At least, not with me. I saw the green in his eyes turn pale as the sound of stomping feet and the scraping of monstrous claws drew nearer.
And, since our bodies were so close, I could feel his heart stopped when I answered his expression. Not with the frightened eye of a puppy abut to be euthanized, nor the angry tears of a victim that could have been saved.
How many seconds had it been? Five? Six?
I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, trying my best to form the face of someone accepting their fate.
"Silvie!"
But, in reality, I couldn't. I wouldn't.
My emotions threatened to spill out like vomit, but I kept them under control. I couldn't keep the tears in, but I was able to find my voice, even though I was so petrified that I had feared it had been lost. I latched onto Puck's shirt, burying my face in the crook of his neck. His arms tugged me closer, bringing my chest flush with his. In the back of my mind, I knew that this would be the position in which I would die. The moment was too fast for any of the others to save me. I thought that Puck would be the last thing I would ever see, smell, touch, feel. Besides the dragon's excessively sharp fangs, of course.
But my mouth and my mind never had really been in sync to begin with.
While my body grew weak with apathy and I could actually feel the dragon's hot breath, my mouth spouted one last dying plea.
"STOP!"
With my eyes remaining glued shut and my teary face hidden in Puck's chest, I waited for my end.
And waited.
And waited.
…
And nothing.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, but I was not brave enough to lift my head. My body was petrifyingly stiff, even though I was slick with sweat. My hands were still wrapped up in Puck's olive shirt while his hung by the fingertips off of my waist, hidden beneath my cloak. My face was no longer stuffed in his neck, but I stared at my feet, watching my knees and my white boots shake noticeably.
"Kid, what did you just do?" With my face next to Puck's chest, I could feel the tenor in Puck's voice and the movement of his Adam's apple above my head. I was too comfortable to leave his warm, restricting grasp. His scent of nature and musk. His deep and pleasant voice. His presence was soothing for me who was desperately looking for an excuse not to look up. There was a long list of reasons for me not to trust Puck, but his arms were like an oasis for me. I feared that, if I looked up, the dragon would start stampeding again. But…
I slowly drew my chest away from him and my body was overcome with a chill. Finally having built up the courage, I glanced to my left, wondering what had happened to the dragon's hot, rabid breaths and overwhelming shadow.
I physically leapt backwards when I saw that the dragon was barely a foot from me. Barely six inches. His ravenous jaw had closed and his bloody claws had yielded. His massive mouth was closed, so he breathed through his nose like a tamed pet. Like a sentient being. Silence filled the room. Those that had been fighting the dragon had lowered or dropped their weapons in shock, now caught standing atop the dragon, as if they had been preparing a final attack. The preparations for a final blow by the royal court had paused, as I could tell from the sudden deflation of glamour behind me. Everyone, even Mae and Soren, still in the dome, stared at the dragon and me, as if we were both mysterious creatures.
I couldn't answer Puck. I had less of an idea as to what just happened than probably anyone else in this room. I stepped backward shakily, my knees still quivering, and my foot landed sloppily on the bottom of my cape and a couple uneven stones. I glanced at the dragon's snout, which stretched to the point of almost grazing my shoulder. My face was wet with sweat and tears, yet I was somehow brave enough to look upwards, directly into the dragon's eyes.
The dragon could barely open its eyes after they were mutilated by Puck, but while it stared at me with a painful squint, I noticed something peculiar. Those eyes no longer shone with vibrant yellow rage, but with a golden calm. The beast met my eyes and, despite the remnants of deceased fae on its lips and blood covering its face, it seemed almost docile. Thoughtful. Like the intellectual, graceful creatures that I had always envisioned dragon's to be.
Is this…because of me?
"What did you…say to it?" Puck murmured, incredulous as we stared at the dragon, both still holding on to one another. Although I was aware of this, I wasn't confident enough to let go of him.
I stuttered, unable believe that something so ridiculous was about to come out of my mouth. "All I…all I said w-was 'stop.'"
"'Stop?'"
"Yeah."
He scoffed, "In what language? Finnish?"
What was he talking about? Had he not heard me properly? And only he would think that this was a proper moment to joke around.
Ignoring his comment, I faced the dragon again, both of us meeting eyes instantly. Unconsciously, lead by something more courageous than my usual self, I lifted my hand slowly and timidly towards the beast. It stood stoically, his eyes only sparking for an instant when he saw my initial movement. As my palm rested itself on his long, scaly snout, the dragon seemed utterly unfazed. He released a huge, relieved breath, making Puck's and my clothes flutter as if we were on top of a breezy hill.
The moment that my fingertips grazed the dragon's rough skin, I felt a buzz, like the shock of static electricity. The feeling entered through my fingers, but spread through me with a soothing warm, filling my body soon enough. My mind ran wild, suddenly barraged with a stimulation that was completely alien to me. It was invaded by an assortment of muddled scenes and lost word, twisting together like a kaleidoscope. A vast field. A large, dank cave. A dragon with scales of sky blue, grazing its snout over a single, spotted egg. A pair of ravenous claws. Fire. Screaming fae. The dragon's cries, only more whiny and desperate.
Were these…memories? They had to be the dragon's.
But why could I see them?
Years passed through my head like an old movie reel. Anger, happiness, peace, sadness, fear; none of these feelings, however, were my own. I heard voices ringing in my ears, repeating tidbits of dialogue. But something was peculiar. The syntax, the tone, the organization of words, something about the streams of thoughts going through my head was peculiar.
But familiar.
The words continued until there were no more pictures to be shared and only darkness encompassed the message passing through my mind. From among these sentences, I heard whispers of a name. A name repeated in different tones, with variances of echo and distinct levels of ferocity. It was said in tenderness, in rage, in heartache, and in relief. I had never heard this name before, but from hearing for only a moment, I caught a glimpse and a feeling of this person.
I snatched my hand away, finally coming to my senses, finally remembering where I was and who I was not. I was not this person whose thoughts had just joined with mine, but I had a hypothesis.
The dragon's eyes were dull as he gazed at me in what only can be described as anticipation.
I now knew why he had attacked the courts.
A hand flew onto mine and, although my fingertips were no longer touching the dragon's snout, I was displeased with this new distance. My left hand had been placed on the dragon's skin this whole time, yet my injury hadn't acted up or interrupted my thoughts. Yet, somehow, now that the connection had been broken, I felt the pain flare up once again. I winced, but somehow stifled a cry. Alex's tanned, toned arm stretched in front of my eyes and I saw the straight muscles of his hand tense around my fingers. His face was flushed, but still almost devoid of injuries. "Silvie, what are you doing? Get away from it!"
"Xagsom."
Alex stopped in his tracks, his brow knotted in confusion. From behind me, I heard Puck exhale, probably in disbelief. Meghan and Ash had gathered near us while Mae and Soren still cowered under the shield. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the dragon.
Its name.
His name.
Xagsom.
"His name is Xagsom." I corrected Alex, eliciting confused glares from everyone in the room. I mean, they had no idea how I knew this. "This wasn't…this wasn't his fault. He's being controlled and they hurt him. They…I don't know what they…" My other hand reached for my scalp as I struggled to recall the darkness that overcame me during my experience. How can I explain what I saw coherently? My telepathic session with a dragon. I couldn't. It was impossible, right?
Think. Think, Silvia, think! Xagsom was sharing those thoughts for a reason!
I had to help him. I felt like I was the only one that could.
I turned back to Xagsom, desperately seeking another glimpse, another phrase or memory or just a name that could help me find how to ease his pain. I found that I didn't have to press my hand to his snout anymore to hear him, but simply listen closely.
Human.
A booming voice rung in my ears, easily forming contact with my mind. However, no one else was reacting, only gawking at my unusual behavior. Was I the only one that could hear Xagsom now, too?
You understand the ancient verses? He asked, his deep golden eyes peering into mine with enough intensity to make me flinch.
What was he talking about? Ancient verses. Probably referring to a language. How had anything I'd done given him the idea that I knew some kind of language that I didn't even know existed? I had shouted to him in English. All of his words and thoughts and telepathic messages had been in English. They had to have been! That was how I read them, anyway! That was how I had heard them!
"They have all this information about that 'glamour' nonsense in here. Some diagrams. Some chants…"
"Look! There's nothing here! There's nothing on this page kid."
The mysterious book that Puck found under my bed. He couldn't read it, but I skimmed over it like it was in perfect English.
"All I…all I said w-was 'stop.'"
"In what language? Finnish?"
I finished that entire book. I absorbed all of its information. Information that fae couldn't even read. I had no idea what the importance of these ancient verses were, but they must have been powerful.
Powerful enough to shake the bones of a dragon and add another puzzling mystery to the real reason why I was brought to the NeverNever.
I was about to ask Xagsom for clarification, about what these Ancient Verses truly were. I had underestimated the amount of peaceful time I was allowed in a situation such as this. Before I could find the right words, wondering if they would come out in this strange language that no one but Xagsom and I could understand, a sound shook everyone awake. A hollow sound coming from the misty hold in the wall where Xagsom had entered.
The sound of a single pair of palms clapping together, as if we were all actors in a grand performance with only one audience member, started a reverberating, ominous rhythm. Everyone's eyes drifted, at different paces, toward the demolished wall, still slightly hidden by a cloud of dust that had been kicked up by their fighting and the dragon's rapid movements. Among the clapping, I heard something that couldn't be anything but soft cackling. My hand latched onto Excalibur tightly as a shadow emerged, along with a vibrating chest as the measure of the laughter increased. A person? A fae?
Almost greater than the shadow that this figure was hiding behind was the cloud of glamour that shrouded him. Definitely a fae. It didn't blanket the user, like something that belonged to it, like I had seen with everyone else. It spread across the room in tendrils, like millions of blood vessels, stretching to every corner of the room. The glamour slithered around like a creature, stalking for prey. It wasn't long before the murky glamour reached my feet and I realized that the color of it hadn't been masked by the smoke.
The glamour was pure black.
"Bravo! Bravo!" This voice startled me so deeply that I dropped Excalibur, releasing the visual world that came with it. I could no longer see everyone's distinct glamour or feel the pull of Xagsom's mind on mine. Of course, my body felt like a huge weight had been lifted, physically and mentally, but I felt weird. Colder. Like the world was dimmer. I quickly picked up Excalibur in a swift swoop before the figure spoke up once more.
The dark fae chuckled, releasing a solemn, solid bass voice that wasn't possible for a human. It reached the deepest parts of my quivering heart and squeezed it. Glancing around the room, I was minutely comforted by the fact that everyone else seemed to be experiencing the same effects. Puck and Alex were beginning to nervously sweat while Mae and Soren were cowering while holding each other. I felt a dull warmth as Alex's arm wrapped around my waist.
The figure continued as he stroded further into the royal hall: "To think, that such a little human could best a dragon with one word. Absolutely fascinating."
Just the tiniest sound of his voice, even just his breath, was enough to send a chill up and down my spine and throughout my entire central nervous system. I couldn't even explain why such a thing happened to me, but somehow, I was scared out of my wits. I was. I truly was. It wasn't as if I was knowingly about to face a horror movie poltergeist or a chainsaw-wielding serial killer. I had no idea who this man was. Yet, something in his voice. In his tone. In his presence, coated in layers of creepy black glamour with a matte sheen like onyx. Something made the skin all over my body grow rough and rigid with goose bumps.
I clasped onto Excalibur, constantly reminding myself of the small power I did have. Glamour absorption. Speaking the Ancient Verses, even though that tidbit had not been explained to me properly yet. These insignificant traits had gotten me this far. They had relieved Xagsom from his mental slavery, or whatever disaster he had expressed to me through those thoughts, and saved my life at least twice.
But, from my initial reaction to this new antagonist's entrance, my body clearly knew the truth.
That was all a preface.
The real battle was to soon begin.
**A.N. THERE' A GOOD REASON FOR THIS BEING A MONTH LATE! I PROMISE! There were finals and then Christmas break and I had to work and then I went on vacation and there was no wifi (OH MY GOD THE NO WIFI :0 )! Sooo normally, I'd find an excuse to blame the lateness on Clover, but it was Rose's fault. I admit it. Clover wrote her part like a good little girl and I was busy watching Christmas movies and getting fat on cookies instead…SO. YEAH. Clover tried to tell me that I should also use the excuse that we have lives and that's why we were slow, but I'm pretty sure that we both spent the bulk of our break doing bullshit in our houses on our computers, so I'm not even gonna lie to you guys…WE WENT ON A VACATION TO THE NEVERNEVER. There ya go.
Anyway, so to everyone who's actually READING this right now, thank you for sticking with us and remembering us (even though we've been so bone-headed and haven't updated in a month)! I hope everyone had a nice holiday break and to all of you poor kids that are already back at school or work, I'm sorry :(
Okey, so it's about time that I do reviewer responses 'cause I DO have to wake up early for a dentist appointment tomorrow…I would hate it more if my dentist wasn't so freaking adorable…
Wink N Nodd: Thank you! And we're glad that you're not getting tired of our stupid story because we put, like, stupid amounts of time into it. Like STUPID amounts. I hope this chapter didn't make you think otherwise for whatever reason :D! Oh, and sorry about the Christmas special…yeah…we were thinking a lot about that and we just COULD NOT figure out how to write that along with the chapter and still have time to go to the bathroom.
xX Blood-Bond Xx: Thank you too! I'm a really fast reader so, a lot of times, I just kinda write down whatever the hell I'm thinking instead of fact-checking how Julie Kagawa described it in the books. Clover's our fact-checker. So just to hear that the glamour sounds realistic and not totally like some bullshit pulled out of a children's book or some random synonyms that I found for the word 'shine' on the internet (which most of them totally are) is very comforting. Also…yeah…we actually DID forget about Oberon and them for a while 'cause they're not, you know, my FAVORITE people ever, but I think we fixed it. I don't know. We did somethin'.
Holly: Again, our oopsie with the Christmas chapter…IF WE HAD BEEN IN THE UNSEELIE KINGDOM RIGHT NOW, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY PERFECT! Our timing is not good!
Ironiclife: Okay, first, just gonna say this: I've looked at your username like fourteen trillion times 'cause every time I see it, it looks like 'cliff' but it's NOT. What does it meeeeeaaaan? Anyway, didn't make way on that (wow…this is actually making me feel bad about not doing it…T_T) but Meghan and Ash WILL be here more often…I think…we're making plans!...I think…Clover's the plot person, ask her.
pinkatailmon: Okay…getting serious now…What Clover and I did was to kind of make this battle last longer than it probably would have REALLY so that we'd have enough time to describe Silvia's reaction and then, eventually, have her do…you know…that thing she did. We thought that Oberon, Titania, and Mab were clearing out the royal hall and trying to keep the building from collapsing while Puck was kinda playing with the dragon ('cause I don't really know if HE'S strong enough to get enough vines to tie down the dragon, let alone ones strong enough to keep it down.) Meanwhile, Ash is now only half-fae, so he has his attack power but we imaged it to be less powerful and Meghan is only half-fae to begin with and likes to use her sword, so the idea of the vines and stuff didn't really occur to us. This explanation may not actually make any sense, but this is kinda what we were thinking…
GatherFireflies: Dude…Clover and I have already agreed that we love your picture and your username…but a Christmas special just…wasn't in the cards for us. I'm so sorrryyyy. It just couldn't work out. It's not you, it's us. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be…but besides that IF I COULD MAKE THEM KISS, I WOULD! But I can't do that so early…well maybe I can figure out a way, but I'd need to do some more research on what. Kissing. Is. Like. Don't judge me.
NekoUsagi Luvr: Question, do you actually HAVE a cat and/or a rabbit (expression of my nerd status)? Anyway, I'm glad that you like Excalibur! It hasn't come into play yet as much as it will eventually (and at some point, she'll actually learn how to use it instead of just holding it and looking at it). And ANOTHER PERSON WHO GOT THE REFERENCE! I'm so proud…so proud…
Fuyutaro son: I WAS HIGH ON LIFE WHEN YOU SAID THE CAFETERIA SCENE WAS REALISTIC! HAPPINESS ACHIEVED! WHO NEEDS DRUGS WHEN YOU HAVE RANDOM PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET SAYING NICE THINGS TO YOU? Wait, actually that's dangerous…And just me, but I noticed that all the chapters you said were great were the ones with Puck all close and touchy-touchy with Silvia *wink, wink* yeah, I geeeet it ('cause they're my favorite too)!
And, I know I don't need to ('cause she might not show up again -_-) but I wanted to respond to the guest, too. I sorry that you think Silvia is a Mary Sue, but I hope this chapter changed your mind even a teeeensy bit! And if it didn't, she'll get better in the next chapter, we promise! Well, actually, like three or four chapters. Not much she can do about the dude that just showed up. He's pretty fucking scary.
So, a shout-out to everyone that has favorited and/or followed Blossom since October:
Blue Pudding
DayoNight7
Fee-tan (what does it meeeaaaan?)
Fuyutaro son
Mysterious-Lover25
NekoUsagi Luvr
Pink-Wand-Witch
Ry584
SweetMoonPrincess
TheGreatZebraCake
awesomeadvice
everyonelovesmina
pinkatailmon
DecendentofGallifrey
LG176
QueenOfEpic
crystalight33
Thank you guys for reviewing, giving us feedback, giving us unspoken, internet LOVE! If you guys wanna know anything, request something, complain about anything, just post it in a comment 'cause we really do go over each comment like fucking dorks that are suddenly seeing slim signs of popularity. It's sad.
Oh and interesting factoid that Clover told me: apparently, the longest piece of literature in the English language is a Super Mario Brothers Brawl Fanfiction? I didn't know that! And I checked it on the internet and the internet doesn't LIE. But I think my author's note was just longer than that…
GO FANFICTION!
LATERS!**
