Queen of the Mythical World Chapter 36: The Horn, a fablehaven fanfic

Chapter 36: The Horn

After a solid minute of hugging, everyone finally released their grasp on Warren, who proceeded to inhale deeply.

"All right," said Warren. "Can someone please tell me what's going on here? I feel really confused."

"Warren," said Kendra, "I don't know how else to tell you this, but you were dead."

"I was dead? Are you kidding me?"

The entire crowd, consisting of the Sorensons, fairies and dragons all responded in unison with a loud "NO!".

"You really were dead," said Clover, as she proceeded to hug Warren a second time.

"What happened?" asked Warren. "Last thing I remembered, it seemed like Dominera was about to step on me. Then the next thing I knew, you guys and all of the dragons were suddenly gone. The street was back to normal, as though the city had not even been attacked. I don't understand what could have happened."

"Dominera did step on you."

Warren placed a hand up to his forehead. "Am I alive, or in heaven?"

"I think we owe Warren an explanation," said Bracken, as he and the others took turns telling Warren about what had occurred since he had died. They spoke of how Kendra managed to reclaim her horn back from Dominera, put the dragons in their place, and reverted the city and public knowledge back to the way they had been before Dominera's interference.

"So Kendra did it?" asked Warren, sounding quite anxious. "You managed to wish away Dominera and the other dragons, restore the city back to its previous state, and undo all of the damage that had been done, including bringing me and everyone else who was killed, back to life?"

"She did," replied Bright. "Somehow, Kendra managed to regain full control over her horn again."

"Now you can wish for anything you want!" exclaimed Seth. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

Kendra shook her head. "No, it's not awesome. In fact, it kind of scares me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ingrid.

"I know I can grant wishes. But I'm barely able to control this power. I already lost this power before, all because I wasn't careful."

"True," said Bracken. "But you didn't know any better when that happened. None of us did."

"But it could still happen if I'm not careful! I still possess the ability to do that. And it might even be possible without explicitly wishing for it."

"What do you mean?" asked Raxtus.

"It was after I got my horn back from Dominera," replied Kendra. "I was so mad, I could feel my horn triggering the ominous signs that were starting to occur. The hail. The tidal wave. The earthquake. This power I have feels extremely dangerous. What if I do something irreversible? Completely by accident? What then? Merely thinking about something bad might result in it actually happening."

"I don't know," replied Bright. "In fact, I don't think any of us do. I think you're just going to have to learn how to better control your horn, as unreasonable as it sounds."

"But I don't know if I can," said Kendra. "I just wish... NO!"

Kendra squinted her eyes shut and shook her head. "I can't even say that! Oh, what am I supposed to do?"

"What is it, Kendra?" asked Geminus.

"Well I don't want to permanently lose this horn. Is there any way to simply remove the horn from my body? Similar to what Dominera did?"

"Dominera flat-out poached your horn away from you," replied Bracken. "Even though it wasn't ready to come out. Similar to baby teeth, a unicorn's first two horns are only intended to come out as the unicorn matures. However, in theory, there may be a way to safely separate you from your horn, Kendra."

"What's that?" asked Kendra.

Bracken looked around at the skyline that surrounded the rooftop everyone was standing on.

"You know what, let's get back to Fablehaven first. I'll tell you the rest the moment we get back."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I wish we were all back at Fablehaven."

Kendra's horn lit up brilliantly. There was a flash of light, and the next thing everyone knew, they were no longer in New York City. As Kendra had asked for, they were all now standing in the front yard back at Fablehaven.

"This is even more convenient than the Translocator," said Warren.

"Okay, Kendra," said Bracken. "I can use my own power to detach your horn from the rest of your body. Right now, even. It shouldn't take long. However, you will need to openly state that you are choosing to part with your horn under your own free will. That way, this procedure will not constitute as theft."

"All right, then," said Kendra. "If you can do this now, then let's get it over with. The sooner I get separated from my horn, the better."

Bracken stood in front of Kendra and held out his hands, which proceeded to exert a white glow. "Understood. Now, repeat after me: I, Kendra Sorenson..."

"I, Kendra Sorenson..." said Kendra, quoting Bracken.

"Do hereby grant Bracken..."

"The full authority to remove my horn..."

"Entirely under my own free will."

As soon as Kendra finished speaking, she experienced a feeling in her horn, as though somebody was pulling on it, despite the fact that nobody was physically touching it. Suddenly, Kendra's horn popped out of her skull, and hovered over towards Bracken.

Kendra then experienced a tingling sensation throughout her body, as she immediately proceeded to transform back into a human.

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid.

"I think it's fairly obvious," replied Raxtus. "By removing her horn, Kendra lost the one thing that truly made her a unicorn."

"First thing's first," said Bracken, as he waved his hands around the floating horn, causing a glass cylinder to materialize around it.

"So that's it?" asked Seth. "Kendra's back to normal, now?"

"Normal for her, anyway," replied Bright. "Kendra no longer appears to be a unicorn. But she should still be fairykind."

"How do you feel, Kendra?" asked Geminus.

"I feel... fine," replied Kendra. "Especially now that I don't need to worry about any thought that might enter my head."

"Kendra, I do wish to return to the Fairy Kingdom with you," said Bracken. "So that my mother may analyze both you and your horn. Is that all right?"

"I suppose. But what about everything else? I don't know for sure where Dominera or any of the other dragons actually are right now. Who's to say my wish worked the way I wanted it to?"

"We'll check up on everything when we go inside," said Ingrid. "If the Fairy Queen ought to examine you, maybe it's important that you take care of that."

"You can borrow this," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag and presented it to Kendra, who in turn accepted the artifact from him.

"Take care," said Clover, as she, Seth, Ingrid and Warren walked through the yard towards the front of the house. Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall all proceeded to fly off in the direction of their lair.

"All right, Kendra," said Bracken, "let's go pay my mother a visit."

Kendra wound up the Translocator in her hands and held it out so that Bracken and Bright could touch it. Envisioning the Fairy Queen's throne room in her head, Kendra proceeded to twist the Translocatror again, which caused her and her two allies to be whisked away.

Kendra opened her her eyes and saw that she, Bracken and Bright were now standing in the throne room of the Fairy Queen.

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, as Bracken and Bright took their hands off of the Translocator, prompting Kendra to slip the device into her bag. "What brings you here?"

"I did it!" exclaimed Kendra, as she walked up towards the dais at the far end of the room. She looked up at the Fairy Queen, who was currently seated upon her throne. "I got my power back! I'm able to grant wishes again! I even defeated Dominera and her dragons!"

"I want to say that you're kidding. But I have reason to believe that you're being truthful. And I think I know why. Bracken, is that what I think it is?"

"It is," said Bracken, as he walked up the dais to the throne where the Fairy Queen was seated. He presented to her the casing that Kendra's horn had been contained in.

"I have many questions," said the Fairy Queen, as she accepted the container from Bracken. "But Kendra, why is your horn even in here?"

"Because I don't think that I can control it properly," responded Kendra. "Even after I had gotten the upper hand against Dominera, just the thought of wanting to punish her triggered things like hail and an earthquake."

"Kendra's worried that she'll do something wrong by accident," said Bright. "And that she might not have the ability to remedy it."

"This horn is most unusual," said the Fairy Queen. "I'm not surprised that it can grant wishes."

"But why?" asked Kendra. "Why is my horn so powerful?"

The Fairy Queen studied the encased horn that she was currently holding. "I'm not entirely sure. But as we all know, you are not like other fairies. There are attributes within you that the rest of us have been unable to emulate. However, one thing I have sensed that stands out is that there's some degree of angelic energy lingering in your horn."

"Angelic energy?" exclaimed Bright. "Mother, do you mean to say that Kendra might also be part angel?"

The Fairy Queen chuckled, only to shake her head. "No. While I did sense angelic energy within Kendra's horn, I don't believe that it originated from within her."

"You mean, someone else was the source of this angelic energy?" asked Bracken.

"I believe so."

"Seth!" said Kendra, Bracken and Bright all in unison after a momentary pause.

"Uh, does that mean that Seth did something to my horn?" asked Kendra.

"He must have," replied the Fairy Queen. Where else could this angelic energy have come from?"

"Windshear, perhaps?" asked Bright. "But with all due respect, Kendra, you spend far more time with your brother than you do with Windshear and Stargleam."

"But Seth didn't do anything!" exclaimed Kendra. "All things considered, I haven't even had my horn for a very long time. And I'm pretty positive that Seth never did anything to infuse my horn with any of his power."

"Seth did do something," said the Fairy Queen. "But, not on purpose. I think it may have simply been exposure to Seth's angelic presence that caused your unicorn form to develop the way it did, being able to grant wishes."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Bracken.

"It's an educated guess. But it has merit. For countless years, fairies and unicorns have not co-existed alongside angels and pegasi. It wasn't until your recent discovery of Windshear, as well as Hope and Air Flair, that we've had any recent connection with their kind."

"What does that mean?" asked Kendra.

"It means," replied the Fairy Queen, "that the angels and pegasi that you've been around lately likely had a part to play in you being able to grant wishes."

"That actually makes sense," said Bright. "The only other method we ever knew of that could truly grant wishes was the Omega Star. And that was it."

Bracken nodded. "You're right. The Omega Star was crafted using ancient fairy technology. But we've never been able to replicate its abilities."

"But if Kendra's recent association with angels is anything to go by, then it's possible that angels themselves had a hand in the creation of the Omega Star."

"You might be on to something," said the Fairy Queen. "Angels have unique attributes and abilities. Given that the Omega Star was developed so, so, long ago, it would actually make sense that angels lent their magic in its development. With powerful fairy and angel magic rooted within it, the Omega Star was powerful enough to be capable of granting wishes."

"But wait," said Kendra. "You are the mother of all fairies. Why do you not have knowledge of the Omega Star's creation?"

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "The Omega Star was not developed with my consent. It was created in the mortal world for not the Knights of the Dawn, but their ancestors. These ancient people had little defense against powerful creatures. However, several fairies and angels sensed that the ancients needed help, so together they devised a powerful tool that could be used to protect them."

"With the power of the Omega Star, the ancients could have ruled the world," said Bright.

"In theory, yes. But the fairies and angels who developed the Omega Star could sense that the ancients were not malicious, and entrusted the Omega Star to them. However, those fairies and angels chose not to share their secret with anyone else, out of fear that things would get out of hand if more individuals had the ability to grant wishes. And now that those angels and fairies are all long dead, their secret was seemingly lost forever."

"And what did the ancients do with the Omega Star?" asked Kendra.

"They drove away demons, dragons and other powerful monsters," replied Bracken. "And they restored the damage that they caused. Once the ancients felt that they had no more need for the Omega Star, they separated its five components and hid them away in their respective vaults."

"You said that they drove those monsters away," said Kendra. "Because the Omega Star isn't capable of granting wishes that can directly cause death. Like how Tritanoss had to be banished under the sea, rather than simply being killed."

"That's exactly right," said the Fairy Queen.

"We believe that the Omega Star not being capable of killing anybody was a failsafe," said Bright. "In case it ever fell into the wrong hands or something. Conversely, it could not bring the deceased back to life."

A thought suddenly popped into Kendra's head. "Warren! I brought Warren back to life. And all the other people who were inevitably killed by Dominera and her pack."

"What?" asked the Fairy Queen, who appeared to be dumbfounded. "My, we got so caught with just talking about your horn, that you barely even told me exactly what went on since I last saw you. Including what transpired with Dominera. Please, enlighten me."

Kendra, Bracken and Bright all took turns explaining to the Fairy Queen everything that had happened since their previous visit. They spoke about how Kendra was able to banish Dominera's pack away from Fablehaven, but not Dominera herself, who challenged her to a duel at the Grand Canyon.

Next they talked about how Dominera managed to seize Kendra's horn and declared that she would be able to conquer the world with its power, even though she was seemingly unaware that it was capable of granting wishes, at least for Kendra.

They then told the Fairy Queen about how Dominera used the power of Kendra's horn to manipulate the perception of everyone on the planet, so that each and every last individual could all see magical creatures without any special aid.

They went on to talk about how Dominera and her pack appeared on television, and how they terrorized New York City. Eventually, they got into speaking of the altercation that their group had gotten into, and how Kendra eventually got her horn back and ultimately set things straight.

"That is incredible," said the Fairy Queen, once Kendra, Bracken and Bright had finished telling their story. "You can actually grant wishes, Kendra! I'm... I'm speechless. Your horn is unlike anything that I have ever seen in a unicorn. Even what Dominera did with it, though not something I would ever approve of, is amazing."

"How is this even possible?" asked Kendra. "Not only am I not the first fairy-like being to be living among angelic beings, but I'm not entirely a proper fairy or unicorn. I'm a human being first, fairykind second."

"Not anymore you aren't," said Bracken, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra.

"You've changed," replied Bright. "We were wrong. You're technically not actually a human being anymore. You're still a unicorn. Even though your horn is no longer a part of you."

Kendra didn't know what to say. She figured that even without a horn, she technically was still a unicorn. But to not even be considered a human anymore... What did it mean?

"Bracken nodded. "Except, you started off in a human form, instead of as a unicorn. You're kind of like a reverse unicorn, that regard."

"So, I'm not entirely like you other unicorns, am I?"

"You are different," replied the Fairy Queen. "Partly in ways that we cannot even fathom. It's likely why you've been able to grant wishes."

"But I couldn't always grant wishes," said Kendra. "It only worked the first time, and when I got my horn back from Dominera."

"Looking at your horn now, and comparing it to earlier, I think I know the answer to that," said the Fairy Queen, admiring the encased horn that she was holding. "It's currently imbued with angelic energy. And if I had to make a guess, it's due to the intervention of your brother."

"Seth? But he didn't do anything outstanding here."

"It wasn't intentional. But with him being angelkind, and you being fairykind, you likely absorbed some of his excess energy prior to your birthday, without even realizing it. Thus, when you first became a unicorn, you were able to grant wishes. And even though you lost your powers, when you them back, you hadn't been around Seth long enough for it to have any influence."

"Then how was I able to grant wishes after getting my horn back from Dominera?" asked Kendra.

"Two theories," replied Bright. "One was that you had been exposed to Seth more, and you were fairyprime at the time. Another theory that likely crosses over with the first is that you were so furious at Dominera for crushing Warren, that your body somehow jump-started your ability to grant wishes."

"It may also stand to reason that others are incapable of using your horn to grant wishes for themselves," said Bracken.

"But these wishes might not even have any restrictions like the Omega Star did," said Kendra. "If I was able to wish Warren and everyone else who died earlier back to life, there's no telling what else I might be capable of! And that's why I'm scared to keep this horn around. I don't feel like I'm ready to handle it."

"I understand," said the Fairy Queen. "As much as I would like to have it studied, if that is what you so desire, I will look into securing your horn in a very safe location. At least for the time being."

"Thank you," said Kendra, as she walked up to the Fairy Queen and gave her a hug.