CHAPTER 29: From the Darkness Comes a Light
Flora stirred in her sleep. She was having a dream that she was standing on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. On that island, there was nothing but sand and two small rocks. She walked over to the rocks to examine them more closely. One was pink and shone like the sun and one was a stunning dark blue that had waved that resembled the ocean currents. The other was dull and grey. It was see-through, but in a way that looked like pond scum water. She looked more closely and was only brought out of her fascination when she noticed two people walking toward her. They were older than her, around her parent's age, maybe. They took the dull rock from her hands scowling. After giving each other a glaring look, they turned and chucked the dull rock into the waters and walked away. Flora was upset for some reason. She felt the need to go after the rock. She kicked off her shoes and ran into the water. When she reached the point where the water level was at her neck, she had a feeling that she could not swim. Grasping for air, she waved her hands trying to call for help. She felt herself go under.
She awoke on her cold metal bed, kind of wishing to be back on the deserted island, and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to think of what he dream meant. Deciding to talk about it with Emylee, she sat up, stretched as much as she could, and turned to see Emylee being gagged by a woman about her own age. Flora called out and tried to reach out, but both were useless. The woman dropped her hand and Emylee gasped in and out heavily but otherwise seemed fine.
"Good morning Flora. How was your sleep? Were you comfortable?" The woman said with a grin. She looked familiar. Flora glared, trying to remember who she was and trying to keep a poker face. "Come on, I am only trying to be friendly. Shall we start from the beginning? My name is Chibi Chibi, but that's a stupid name, so I go by…. never mind. Any who… I heard you know the girlie girl who has the crystal. I also know you know my sister. Here's the deal, Flo, I really really need that crystal, as in life or death need. If you could help me out, that would be fantastic, truly spectacular." Chibi Chibi smiled a cutsie grin as she folded her hands. She could have been begging for an ice cream cone. Flora didn't budge. Chibi Chibi's eyes squinted at her. "Look, I'll make you a deal. You get me the crystal, I give you your freedom." Flora looked down, then lanced to Emylee. "Oh, you bonded with it. How cute She's not for sale, if that's what you were thinking. Deal or no deal. I will give you two days to think it through. Have fun rotting." And with that, Chibi Chibi turned on her heals and walked straight through the door, literally. Emylee looked to Flora and smiled a sad grin.
"Thanks, but I am not part of that fight."
"Why are you here Emylee? Why take such a young girl?" Flora tilted her head to one side.
"I…I am a guardian fairy too." Emylee shifted her weight and looked to the ground. "I, I don't….I don't know how to say it. I mean, for you to be able to understand why. I am young and haven't graduated from Alphea or anything and I sure haven't mastered it. But, I am a guardian even though I hate it."
"How could you hate being a guardian fairy? All the things you protect and the lives you save. If anybody has told you to hate it or if it's because you're here, don't give up! When we get out of here, I will help you be a guardian fairy! I promise." Emylee smiled weakly.
"Thank you Flora, but that's not it. I have always hated my power. Ever since I was born, I have hated everything about my life. C. C. understands me and my issues, even if she is a little mean. She may be the only true friend I have."
"I am your friend." Flora smiled. "And why could you hate your Winx? What is your power Emylee?" Emylee shifted her weight again, this time looking at Flora.
"Flora, you are looking at the one and only fairy of darkness." Flora gasped a little. "Because I am the only one, I was sent to the Council of Magix where they anointed me guardian fairy of dark energy and all dark matter. I don't even have wings, but I can fly. I come from a planet, really far away from Earth and even Linphea . It's called Hatoris. It's….a different kind of family, if that's even what you call it. Its government is very strict because the planet was cursed 500 years ago by a witch named Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds. She was a beautiful seventeen year old girl who traveled the galaxies by herelf looking for a true love she had a vision of when she was eight. When she came to Hatoris, she found him. He was the prince at the time. They fell in love, but he knew that they couldn't be together because of his arranged marriage with another woman, named Celeste. Instead of telling Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds the truth, he simply let her think that they were getting married. She thought all the preparations were for her and he even had the whole planet tell her the lie so she wouldn't suspect anything. When a young child asked him why, he said that he loved both women equally, but he loved the money and power most of all. Because the arranged marriage entitled him to two planets, he chose her. The child, my great to the umpteenth times grandmother went to tell Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds but when she found her, Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds wouldn't listen. Nobody stood up for her, because they wanted to see how the beautiful helpless girl would react. On the day of the wedding, Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds showed up to a fake wedding. When she walked into the aisle no one was there. Instead, there was only my grandmother sitting in the first pew with flowers and a homemade chocolate. Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds was outraged. She took my grandmother and crashed the real wedding. She cursed the whole planet so that there would be no love ever, except for certain descendants of my grandmother. She also gave my grandmother the power to destroy everyone on Hatoris because she was too distraught to do it. My grandmother, Eva, couldn't do it. Even with the new dark power inside her, she was too good. Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds didn't have much power left after giving it all to Eva so she only hugged my grandmother close and whispered her goodbyes and thanked her. While the rest of the planet was laughing at Marion Clarence Fabion Rynolds, she was making sure they would never laugh again. In front of all of them, she used Eva's flowers and chocolate to bind the curse and took her own life by incineration. It must have been tragic to see. You see, I inherited the power to love along with my siblings, but only I got the power, the control over darkness. It was really hard at first to control it. I was sent away to a school for magic, called Linket Academy for the Unqualified, Underappreciated, and Undeserving. You can tell it must've been a blast. Believe it or not, I did have fun. All they people there were from troubled planets so I was accepted for who I was. My brother and sister both went there too, but I barely saw them. We were separated by years. I met two of my best friends there ever, Kailey and Mayblet, and even had a boyfriend, Ricky. They made everything seem so carefree and I had never experienced so much love." Emylee wiped a tear from her cheek and paused to look at Flora. "Everything changed when she came. She transferred there about a year after I started. She was my age and seemed to like me from day one. I should have seen the signs though. She told me absolutely nothing about her home or her powers, always skipped power training, never got mail, and started to isolate me from my friends. I told her off once and she only laughed at me and said that I should be grateful to have a friend like her because one day they would all leave. It was true too. At my sister's graduation, Ricky dumped me for Mayblet, which really stunk, and Kailey was pulled out of school because her planet had been destroyed and had to be relocated. We cried so much before she left and she yelled at Ricky and Mayblet for me. She was the best. I wish I knew how she was doing. Anyway, that year was awful for me. I met new friends only to have them slip away once they knew my story. Mayblet got pregnant so she had to be moved to a different part of school and Ricky was put into a 'rehab' part. I was so alone that year. I couldn't handle it anymore. I found her again and she welcomed me with a smile. We became really close. She even started to tell me things, like about her mother and her sister, what her power was, and even where she came from. At first I didn't believe she was from Earth, but after time, I trusted her. We finished off our schooling and at graduation, I… well that's when it all started. {That school only went up until age thirteen.} I told her that we needed to stay in touch. She asked me why and I told her I still wanted her to be my friend. She got kinda mad and starting yelling at me. She was like, 'Come live with me! You don't have to go back there!' or 'I can come with you!' She even said we should run away. She hated being under her sister as much as I hated the lack of love, but I need my siblings and had to try and break the curse. I couldn't let her be cursed too so I pushed her away and said my goodbyes. She wasn't too thrilled about that. When I walked on the stage to get my diploma, she ran up and grabbed me. She started screaming about how we were friends and she needed me. She had some plan. Before I knew it, everybody was in a frenzy and we were gone. Next thing I knew, I woke up here, tied to the wall." Flora's eyes were filled with tears. All that Emylee had gone through made her so sad.
"We will get out of here Emylee. You have to believe in that. I have a plan." Flora winked as she lay down onto her had bed and closed her eyes, falling to sleep dreaming of ways to get out of the prison she was in.
