AU: Did I name my chapter after the High School Musical song? Yes, yes I did. Also if there are misspelled words or grammar problems - anything that needs correction, please KINDLY let me know and I will do my best to change it.
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING except my characters
One Month Later
Yeah, I know it seems like some sort of cop-out skipping to a whole month later, but to be honest, you really need to know any extra details. However, I will give you, the wonderful reader a brief overview of what has happened by answering three obvious questions everyone has.
Alright, first question, did I say yes to becoming a fairy? Hell, yes, I did. I wasn't going to give up being a practically immortal being with the power to travel the multiverse. This is the type of crap I've been dreaming about since I was a kid! Where the hell was this bitch when I was in high school?
The next obvious question is whether my family knows? Yeah… they do… that was an awkward family dinner. And by awkward, I mean having my fairy godmother sitting in the middle of the dining room table while we ate. Yes, you heard me right. She also kept picking small bits of food from everyone's plate and flirted with my little brother. Don't worry, he's twenty-one so it wasn't necessarily you know, illegal – fairies aren't that loose in their sexuality. But having your fairy godmother flirting with the person you still see as twelve years old was still totally weird. Her name is Gladys by the way – total fairy name, I know. Note the sarcasm. She essentially showed up in the dining room in all her fairy glory to make sure that my family would believe me. Also, through the picking at everyone's food and flirting with my brother she gave an actual comprehensive explanation of what I had chosen to become.
And now comes the final question, why can I choose to be a fairy and not just be born one, and what does this newfound fairy power entail? Well I'm going to start from beginning, when fairies first came into existence. As we all know, the world was originally comprised of light and darkness. It was during that time that many gods and goddesses ruled over the supernatural world, but the main goddesses we want to focus on are the Celtic goddesses Morrigan and Rhiannon. Rhiannon is commonly known to be the Queen of Fairies in Celtic mythology, however what isn't commonly known is that Morrigan is a fae creature herself – fae is another word for fairy if you didn't know. Morrigan was known as the goddess of war, death, and was usually called The Phantom Queen, she was also known to transform into a raven and fly across battlefields during war times.
Even though she had all this dark power, she longed for a companion – not a follower, a companion. Morrigan wanted someone to share her power with and use it for their own. The first person she chose to bestow this power unto was a fair maiden Aina. What most supernatural creatures don't know is that Aina was the mate - or at least the first of many mates – to Morrigan. Like I said she originally wanted a companion. Rhiannon had found out about this fae creature Morrigan had created and of course confronted her about it. I already know what you're thinking, you think that Rhiannon gets angry and says that what Morrigan is doing is wrong and then a whole war brakes out blah blah blah and it's a never-ending battle between the most powerful fairies in the universe! No. That's not what happens.
Rhiannon had to check out what type of creature Morrigan created because being the Queen of Fairies it was her job to check out what type of new fae creature Morrigan cooked up. Of course, when Morrigan calmly explained to Rhiannon why she changed Aina, Rhiannon totally understood. But that's when Rhiannon truly saw how lonely Morrigan was and she came up with the most wonderful idea. Rhiannon had the power of the light and Morrigan had the power of the dark, so together they would create a new kind of fairy, the Gray Fairy, which is what I am.
The Gray Fairy would be a combination of both light and dark powers. These fairies weren't born they were created by both Morrigan and Rhiannon themselves – team effort yay! Each new fairy would be chosen by both goddesses and given the choice to become one of them. If the participant were to say no then they would have their memories erased and then went on with their regular lives. But if the participant were to say yes, the powers of the light and dark would be inserted into the participants body so it could settle manifest. As the participants body absorbs the magic it evens itself out inside of them and they become a Gray Fairy.
Morrigan and Rhiannon are very careful with who they choose to give this power to. However, when they do bestow their power on any recruit the goddesses know that said recruit receiving the power wouldn't abuse it – well… to a certain extent of course. So that's where I come in and what I've been doing for the past month – learning the ropes of how to be a Grey Fairy. Learning all types of different fae magic and the history of my new heritage.
I also found out that any family related to a Gray Fairy is highly compensated and supported by the Gray Fairy community. Basically, what that means is that my family will want for nothing now. My parents can quit their jobs and my sister and brother could move out of the house and get their own places. They can even pay for their college loans! It's great!
Alright now, back to the present. As I said before I had spent the last month learning how to use my fairy magic from Gladys. I'm so happy that I have her. She's been with me every step of the way and answered all my questions honestly and bluntly. She feels more like a supportive fairy aunt instead of a fairy godmother, but I digress. She helped me learn my magic, and how to travel throughout different dimensions and worlds, including the main fairy realm where all the fairies, light, dark, and gray commune together. It's also the home of Rhiannon and her two mates and Morrigan and her five mates. Side note - even though I had to practice transporting myself to the Fae Realm, I wasn't allowed to stay there for long periods of time due to the fact that I was still newbie and my magic was too unstable at that time to stay any longer than fifteen minutes. But today was the day that I could finally go there, take my final fairy test and then I was off to see other dimensions.
I was waiting on my front porch for Gladys to show up and get me the hell out of here when I heard the front door opening. I looked behind me to see my mother smiling happily at me. I smiled back at her with the same vigor, "Hey mom, what's up?" She quickly closed the front door and came to sit next to me on the stoop.
"So, todays the day, huh?" She asked. I nodded slowly and looked down at my feet feeling a nervous pit in my stomach. My mom was the only one who came the closest to understanding why I became a fairy. The others, my dad and my siblings thought my normal life was enough, at first. But they eventually came around and realized why I chose this path. I looked back out to the front yard and sighed. "You know I'll come visit right? You all can also call me on my cell phone too – I put a spell on it so that anyone can call me no matter what dimension I'm in. You can even Facetime me! It's really… really cool." I bit my lip softly as my mom and I locked eyes. I saw tears well up in her eyes as she pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders as I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent. "I love you mom." She gave me one last squeeze before letting go. "I love you too Eliana." She kissed my forehead and went back inside the house. I stared at the front door for a minute or two before smiling to myself and turning back to my previous position and waited for my fairy godmother.
It wasn't long afterwards when I heard a loud popping sound of Gladys transporting. I smiled to myself as I saw Gladys appear on my front lawn. She's lying on the grass and looking up at the sky and stretches her arms. She almost looks like she's sunbathing but, if anyone really knew her, she'd want to get out of the sun as soon as she started to sweat. "A sweaty fairy is not a pretty fairy dear apprentice!" She would say. I roll my eyes at Gladys's antics as I walk up to her. I raise an eyebrow and quirk a small smile as I see her do another large cat-like stretch.
"Hello Eliana, are you ready to complete the final part of your training? I think you're going to enjoy it – most fairies do, of course!" Gladys would always start our lessons with similar statements so that she could would pique my interest for the lesson. Most of the time she was right, and I would end enjoying what we were learning, but there was always a slim chance that I wouldn't. I'm mainly thinking of the time she taught me to self-transport, I shudder thinking about that intense lesson.
Gladys stood up and struck silly pose. "Now, you know all there is to know about magic and what you can do with it, of course, but now, now before you can explore all of the wonderfully diverse worlds and realities, you and I are going to the Tree of Sighs. There you will finish your training and officially become one of us. One of us! One of us!" I couldn't help but giggle at her silly antics. "Alright then," I said, "what does this tree do exactly? Does it solidify my powers of something? Or is it another trail I have to pass?" I asked. Gladys smirked at me with a little glint in her eyes. Uh oh, I knew that look, that was the same look I got when she used a ball launcher to keep throwing tennis balls at me so I can learn to transport quick enough. Yeah, that was the intense lesson I was talking about earlier. Gladys keeps smirking and holds out her hand for me to take. I groan slightly but nonetheless take her hand as she whisks me away to the Fae realm.
The first thing I notice once we arrive was this large pink tree with purple and red leaves shaped like hearts billowing everywhere. I was more surprised about how those three colors blended so well together that I had hardly noticed Gladys heading closer to the tree. A small surprised squeak escaped my lips before I could stop it as I went to catch up to Gladys. As we got closer to the tree, I started to realize just how large the tree was. It was probably as tall as the empire state building! Or just any type of tall skyscraper.
Once we reached the opening crevice of the tree, Gladys abruptly stopped walking. Luckily, I was quick enough not to bump straight into my fairy godmother but not quick enough to not trip over my own feet and fall flat on my face. I quickly stood up and readjusted myself. When I got a better look at Gladys, I noticed that she was looking up at the tree with a gaze that seemed thankful, "You know why they call this tree the Tree of Sighs?" She asks. I think for a second to see if she had possibly mentioned this place while going over fairy history with me. I know the name sounded familiar and I knew you were supposed to discover something here, but I just didn't know what. I shake my head, "I don't know why they call it that, but I do know that we're supposed to discover something important here." Gladys smiled softly and nodded. "They call it the Tree of Sighs because of the sighs of pleasure you emit while going through its passage." I couldn't help it when my eyes widened, and my cheeks reddened.
It was habitual for me to react this way when sex was even mentioned.
Yeah, I know it the 'sighs of pleasure' thing could mean literally anything but with us fairies being extremely sexual creatures it doesn't leave that much up to interpretation.
I took in a deep breath calming my now racing heart, but my mind couldn't stop racing, "Please god, don't let this be some initiation orgy I need to participate in! I'm still a virgin damnit!"
Gladys chuckled again looking at my bewildered state. Being my fairy godmother, Gladys knew of my virginal status, but she didn't ridicule me for not having sex yet, she finds it endearing that I won't show my body to just anyone. "Don't worry my dear apprentice. Whatever strange sex crazed fantasy you have cooked up in that brain of yours isn't going to happen." I let out a breath I had no idea I was holding in as Gladys giggled again. "The Tree of Sighs, is where you will be given the hints on how to find your soulmate, or in some fairies cases, soulmates." My eyes widened again but this time with awe and surprise.
Me? Me have… a soulmate, or soulmates? Huh… would they even like me? Where could I find them? What were their names? Their likes, dislikes! Did they like dogs? Oh, I hope they liked dogs!
"You know…" Gladys started, "if you keep retreating into that wonderful mind of yours, you'll have to wait longer to get into the tree and get your hints." That got my attention. I nodded with excitement as I paid more attention to my fairy godmother. Gladys clapped her hands together before speaking again, "Wonderful! To explain this process as simply as possible I shall use the perfect example. You know that part in the second Star Wars movie where Luke is training with Yoda on that bayou-like planet and Luke had to go into this tree or plant thing and had to face what was in there? Well, instead of fighting a fake Darth Vader and it turns out to be an evil version of yourself, you'll be given various clues on how to find your soulmate. Now, all you need to do is go into the tunnel, find the bed of flowers, lay there and close your eyes. Clear you mind and the tree will open itself up to you. Go on now!" Gladys grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her. She then turned me to face me towards the tree and began to push towards the tree's opening. "Tell me what happens when you come back out!" She gave me one last shove before I headed into the tunnel.