"Pepper or salt?"
"Excuse me?"
"Like I asked: pepper or salt?" the strange man continued to ask Twilight. The young monster looked at the weird creature in front of her. She then looked down at the boiling stew on the fire and finally understood. She started to reach out to take a taste. Her finger was about to touch the brew when a wooden spoon whacked her hand away. "No, no hands. The dish is hot and you will burn your finger off. Besides, I haven`t seen you wash your hands." the creature scolded her. Twilight looked down in shame, feeling bad. She just wanted to help but getting yelled at for making mistakes is the number one thing she hates. Living the way she has, she has been yelled at and scolded more times than she can count by both of her parents. "Come now, I didn`t mean to scare you. Here try this." Twilight looked up at the blue man and saw him holding the wooden spoon up in her direction with a generous amount of gravy and chunks. The monster girl smiled a small smile and blew a little on the steaming offering. She then took the entire spoonful in her mouth in one bite. Munching a little and then swallowing, she made a thoughtful face. "Both." Twilight said as she saw the floating man smile and with a snap of his fingers, poofed both seasonings out of thin air.
"I apologize for my straight forward bluntness but who are you? And where are we?" Twilight asked her companion as he was seasoning and tasting the stew between them. "I am Sir Glossaryck of Terms, milady." Glossarick introduced himself with a dramatic bow, showing his underwear. Twilight giggled at his antics. "Well, Sir Glossaryck, I am Twilight Butterfly. It is a pleasure to meet you." she said as she shook his small hand with her bigger one. "Oh, I like you a lot. You have such manners, milady." Glossaryck praised her. Twilight`s cheeks dusted a little pink as she doesn`t get praised often over little things. "Now your second question. We are currently nowhere. We just exist." Glossaryck said as he turned his attention back to the cauldron. Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. As she looked around the and pondered his words, she came to a conclusion. "Are we residing in a dimension between dream and reality?" Twilight remembered her mother talking about different plains of existence and used to describe these types of dimensions as nowhere, only existing. "Bravo, milady! You are much sharper than you appear. But yes, we are currently in such a dimension." Glossaryck praised her again. "But where is your physical body then? I know that you have to be in some sort of unconscious state to enter this dimension. And where is this dimension? these sort of places don`t just exist in random places." Twilight rambled as question after question filled her head. "Hold on, milady! I will explain!" her companion threw up his hands in a surrender position. "I don`t have a physical body, not anymore. That was destroyed long ago. I have been residing in this dimension since. And as for where this dimension is, well, it currently rests under your pillow." he explained. This only raised more questions for Twilight. If this dimension has been under her pillow all this time, how come she never entered it before when she went to sleep? And how did Glossaryck get here? Did his body get destroyed in this room before she moved in? But that is impossible. This room was built when she was born. Not only does her room look newer compared to rest of the castle but her father has told her this numerous times. But what is different about tonight? The only thing she did differently tonight was-
"Sir Glossaryck, is this dimension tied to the wand?" Twilight asked her companion. Glossaryck`s eyes lit up at that. "How smart are you milady?" Glossaryck exclaimed with a wide smile. "I just like to read." Twilight answered, not finding her intelligence that big of a deal. "You are not far off, actually. This dimension is IN your wand." he said. Suddenly everything clicked in Twilight`s head. "The dimension we currently are in is one part of your wand. This is my corner of the wand that I control. And before you ask, I have been tied to your wand for centuries. My body got destroyed, yes, but my soul will forever exist in here. Take that how you want." Glossaryck tried to explain. Twilight nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. After that, they sat in silence as Glossaryck kept stirring the stew and Twilight studying him. "Are going to meet again?" Glossaryck looked up at Twilight, finding her blue and gold eyes staring him. "I live inside your wand, milady. We will meet every time you place your wand under your pillow before going to sleep." Twilight nodded as she looked at their surroundings. "If you control this dimension, Sir Glossaryck, why is it so empty?" the girl asked. So far, Glossaryck has appeared as a person who has a huge personality. Instead of answering, Glossaryck smirked and snapped his fingers. The dimension around the turned from a black void into a twilight sky. There were crystals floating around and when Twilight looked down, the fire with the cauldron was on a floating diamond. Instead of sitting on a wooden log, Twilight was now sitting on a floating crystal couch with velvet cushions. Glossaryck was still smirking his shit eating grin at Twilight.
"Better, milady?"
"Very much, Sir Glossaryck."
The next morning, Twilight was standing in the middle of the training ring with her wand in her hands. Star was sitting in an armchair with her morning tea. "We will begin at once." Star announced. Twilight bowed, showing she was ready to learn. "The first thing you need to learn is the most important spell every holder of the wand has to know." the older woman continued with the lesson. "Yes, mother." Twilight said, giving Star the sign to go. Star handed her tea to a servant standing next to her chair and stood. Walking over to her daughter, she kneeled to her level and took hold of the wand with her own hands. Twilight`s eyes met her mother`s as they both looked at each other. "The spell I am about to teach you is called the Whispering spell."
The two woman continued to train for the rest of the day. Star taught Twilight the spells she remembered from the book and what she mastered after she came here. She also showed her daughter the hidden pen in the wand. Toffee watched the two Butterflies from the office window most of the day. Twilight was learning spells that were meant for more advanced magic wielders. And she was performing them without trouble. Like she has been doing this for years. But she didn`t know that. Twilight thought she was learning basic beginners spells and both Star and Toffee wanted to keep it that way. The form the wand has taken already made them question their daughter`s true nature. The best course of action, for now, is to be cautious what they teach her.
The whole time Twilight was learning magic, her mind kept wandering back to last night when she spent time with Glossaryck. She doesn`t usually ask her parents questions without permission but her curiosity got the better of her. "Mother, does the name Glossaryck sound familiar to you?" Star stopped in a middle of a sip of her tea and raised her cold gaze to her daughter. Twilight was looking at her with curious eyes. "No, it doesn`t. Why are you asking me this?" Star`s speaking tone took a dark undertone, showing she didn`t want to talk about a subject. Twilight remembers that tone when she was younger, asking her mother about her past and family. She remembers one particular day when she asked her mother about the broken hearts on her cheeks. Star`s face went red with anger at that question and slapped a young Twilight. That was the day Twilight learned that asking questions cause her more trouble than profit. But Glossaryck is the biggest mystery she has encountered. "I heard that name last night. It was tied to the wand and I wanted to know if you knew anything about it." Twilight decided to leave out some details regarding Glossaryck. The way Star was looking at her was making her nervous. She always looks at her with weary, icy eyes but never out right glare at her. But at the moment, her mother was glaring at her. Star stepped forward and placed her hands behind her back. "It doesn`t matter where you heard that name or if I know anything about it. All that matters at the moment is your training." Star stated with a dangerous tone. Twilight felt her mother was holding information from her. The young monster was too far gone to pull back now. "But if my training with the wand is our top priority then this is important. Glossaryck is a big part of the wand and if you want me to understand it better, you have to tell me what you know!" Twilight was raising her voice as her frustration grew. Star herself was getting more and more frustrated with her daughter the more she talked about that blue nuisance. "I know you are holding information from me. Not only now but have hidden parts of yourself for my whole life! Where did you come from? Who were you before you met father? Where did you get your wand? I am your daughter! I have the right to know who my mother-!"
One second Twilight was shouting at her mother with tears appearing in her eyes, the next she was on the dirt ground on her back. Star was floating above the training grounds with her cheek marks glowing and glaring at the young girl on the ground. A huge burnt hole was in Twilight`s shirt with the skin damaged. Star came down to the ground and walked over to her child. Twilight looked up with teary eyes and saw her mother looming over her. "I am your mother and you are my daughter. It doesn`t matter what my past holds. And you will do good to remember that." Twilight shivered at Star`s tone. She has never seen her mother this furious, at least, not at her. Then again, she has never raised her voice against either of her parents. She just wanted to curl into a ball and disappear. "You will do as me and your father say because we are the reason you are even in this world. Now stand up and go clean up yourself. Training over." And with that Star walked off the training grounds with purpose.
"Was that necessary?" Star looked at the lizard by the office window as she entered the office. "Of course. She is becoming too bold with us. A good soldier follows orders and she needs to know that." the woman said as she watched the girl stand up with shaking legs and run in direction of the medical shack next to the soldiers´ quarters. "You are correct about that. Good job putting her in her place." Toffee offered Star a rare compliment and left the office with his sly grin in place.
Twilight kept quiet as Max was bandaging her chest where Star has struck her with magic. William was standing by the water bowl, cleaning the rags they used to clean the wound. Both soldiers saw what happened between mother and daughter but didn`t speak a word. They have trained with the girl for years and have become really close with her as comrades. They know how sensitive Twilight actually is and this incident is going to leave a huge influence on her for a long time.
Twilight was numb. She doesn`t know what caused her to yell at her mother. In the end of the day, she is the adult and she is the child. She is supposed to do what she is told to do. But today all of a sudden, she gets high on adrenaline and yells at her mother. But why? She has never felt this way and has never gotten angry with her parents. The most she has done is get frustrated with them. So, what happened? Has she changed? Is there something wrong with her? Nothing has changed, except she is a year older now. Wait...
Year older.
Birthday.
Fourteen.
Butterfly tradition.
Wand.
Twilight`s eyes suddenly went wide with realization. Max noticed the change of expression on the girl`s face. "What is it?" the werewolf asked while tying the bandage. "Glossaryck..." she whispered back. Max heard that name in the argument but didn`t understand what it meant. William came over to the two at the bed and placed a worn out coat on Twilight`s shoulders. "Your shirt got destroyed. This will keep you warm when you go back to your room." Twilight thanked the young cyclops and left the medical shack into the evening air. "Do you think she is going to be okay?" William asked his elder. "I don`t know. But I do know this, she is better off leaving this castle." Max didn`t speak another word as he started placing the medical equipment away.
Twilight made it to her room without bumping into either of her parents. As she closed the door to her room, she slid down it and cried. She hasn`t cried in a long time and it was about time she let it all out. Twilight was too buried in her own thoughts that she didn`t notice when she fell asleep on the floor in front of her door.
"Are you feeling better now, milady?" Twilight`s eyes flew open at a familiar voice. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were the diamond-shaped eyes of Glossaryck. She stood up into a sitting position and found that she had been lying on the floating couch. She inside her wand again. But how? She doesn`t remember bringing her wand with her. Glossaryck saw the questioning gaze and decided to clarify. "Your friend placed your wand into your coat pocket." Twilight nodded but kept her eyes down. The presence of Glossaryck confirmed that last night wasn`t a dream but also reminded the whole encounter with her mother. Tears started to gather in her eyes again as she started to pull her knees up to her chest. But as soon the knees touched her chest, it started to burn. And it hurt, a lot. Twilight quickly pulled her knees away but started to cry harder with the added pain from her chest. "Here you are, milady." Twilight looked up at Glossaryck and saw him holding up a tissue box to her. She gave him a watery smile and took a tissue to blow her nose. Glossaryck left the box floating next to her but he floated above the girl`s head and smoothed her hair, trying to calm her down. Twilight smiled at the gesture, feeling herself calming down. They sat in silence for a while, the fire under the cauldron cracking. The twilight around them hasn`t changed and the lonely stars were twinkling around them. Twilight calmed down more and finally was able to relax.
Glossaryck felt Twilight was calmer and floated next to her. The silence continued for a while longer. "How to do feel about leaving?"
"Huh?"