And the heart I know I'm breaking is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known

Isabella

"I am not a fucking fire fairy."

My comment was met with blank stares from everyone in attendance.

Edward, Marcus, Angela and the Major were away from the crowded castle and in an empty meadow full of wildflowers.

"Then what are you baby girl?" Angela asked, her confusion as evident as her curiosity.

Since finishing story time earlier, I've avoided the group of them in an effort to gather the courage to tell them exactly what I was.

I took a deep breath and felt the Major send some confidence my way. I sent him my gratitude and started.

"I know a while back Edward explained about sirens and undines." I paused and waited for their acknowledgement.

"And you're neither of those things, correct?" the Major asked.

"Technically." I shrugged indifferently.

"Explain." He ordered smoothly.

I sighed softly and thought through everything.

"Do you want me to take over?" Edward asked softly, reminding me that I never put my shields back up.

I nodded gratefully and fully opened my thoughts to him, shielding him from everyone else until he was less overwhelmed from my thoughts.

I eased up on shielding everyone else when he nodded to me.

He made his way over to where I was standing in front of everyone and as he reached me I sank to the ground, prompting the others to also get comfortable among the flowers.

Ang crawled into the Major's lap and I slid into Edward's playing with my hair as he started.

"Faeries are a type of mythical being found in the folklore of multiple European cultures, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. Myths and stories of faeries do not have a single origin but are a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of faeries include casting them as either demoted angles, or demons in a Christian tradition, as deities in Pagan belief systems, as spirits of the dead, as prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature."

As he paused, everyone glanced at me. I bit my lip and hid behind my hair, turning to hide against his chest as he continued.

"The label of faerie has at times applied only to specific magical creatures with human appearance, magical powers and a penchant for trickery. At other times it has been used to describe any magical creature. Diminutive faeries of various kinds have been reported through centuries, ranging from quite tiny to the size of a human. Some sizes could be magically assumed, rather than constant, and some smaller faeries could expand their figures to imitate humans.

"In some folklore, faeries have green eyes, some depictions have them with footwear and some barefoot. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artworks, they are rare in folklore, it's said that they flew by means of magic, sometimes perched on ragwort stems or the backs of birds. Modern illustrations often include dragonfly or butterfly wings."

"Okay fairies?" Marcus questioned.

"Faeries." Edward corrected. "F-a-e-r-i-e-s."

"Okay?" Marcus echoed.

"Isabella?" Edward questions.

"Nope." I said against his skin.

Edward

Please don't make me explain this.

I sighed and ran my hands through her hair as I gave into her silent plea.

The Major raised a brow in question and I shook my head in answer. I'd do it but she's answering any follow up questions.

Deal.

I would never get used to her newest power. Her ability to hear only thought centered around her was still a shock to us all.

I sighed again and started again.

"An elemental is a mythic being that is described in occult and alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus."

"I remember this." Ang interrupted. "Paracelsus believed that each of the four classical elements, earth water air and fire, is inhabited by different categories of elemental spirits, liminal creatures that share our world: gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders respectively."

I smiled as she echoed the last explanation Isa and I gave about elementals.

"Correct." Isa said softly. "When we had that particular story time some things were still a little fuzzy. Since then, I've found out way too much and am now far too self-aware and I hate it."

Ang giggled at the slightly disgruntled tone Isa took.

"Ladies." The Major called softly to get their focus. "Later."

Both nodded and I continued.

"The concept of elementals seems to have been conceived by Paracelsus, however he did not use the term or a German equivalent. He didn't regard them so much as spirits but as beings between creatures and spirits, generally being invisible to mankind but having physical and commonly humanoid bodies, as well as eating, sleeping, and wearing clothes like humans.

"Paracelsus gave common names for the elemental types, as well as correct names, which he seems to have considered somewhat more proper, "recht namen". He also referred to them by purely German terms which are roughly equivalent to "water people," "mountain people," and so on, using all the different forms interchangeably."

I took a breath to pause and let Isa curl further into my body as I continued.

"The elementals are said to be able to move through their own elements as human beings move through air. Paracelsus states that each elemental stays healthy in its particular 'chaos' but dies in the others.

"Paracelsus thought human beings to be composed of three parts: and elemental body, a sidereal spirit and an immortal divine soul. Elementals lacked the immortal soul, however by marriage with a human, the elemental and its subsequent offspring could gain a soul." I finished smoothly.

"Oh no, did we miss it?"

Isa laughed softly as Garrett and Alistair entered the meadow.

"Just the background, if you want to start application and save Edward's throat." She answered, peeking through her hair.

"But his voice is so much more soothing." Alistair answered smoothly.

"Guess you're stuck storytelling baby." Ang giggled.

I shrugged easily. "I'm just repeating with I get from Isa."

"Back to the point." The Major said lightly. "What exactly is Isabella?"

"Oh, that's easy." Garrett shrugged. "She's a changeling, born of Hades and Thetis."