CH 6
The door shut behind them, shutting out all light.
"Oookay," Skyler said slowly. "This isn't creepy, or anything."
"Patience," Nought said and pulled her forward a few more steps. Suddenly, it was as if the sun rose after a long night. The space was slowly lit from a source that Skyler couldn't see, but as her vision adjusted from darkness to light, she found herself in a long hallway.
She took note of her surroundings. Black tiles marbled in shades of grey covered the walls, their surfaces polished to an almost mirrored shine. The walls looked very like the stone walls of the Aerie building, but these were black and not the grey medieval stone.
Down the hallway in front of her, there was a line of doors…also a black color.
There were no adornments, no pictures or paintings to break the harsh blackness.
"What is this place?" Skyler asked, looking at her surroundings.
"This is my home," Nought said.
"Cozy," Skyler said with a bite of sarcasm. "Could use some color. You know, maybe a rug or two… A few Throw pillows… That sort of thing."
"Sarcasm is a human expression," Nought frowned down at her. "It is beneath one of your lineage."
"And what is that, exactly?" Skyler snapped. "No one has seen fit to help me out in that area, even before you and my mother whisked yourself off to some magical island somewhere."
"If you continue to fight me," Nought warned, "This will only take longer. The longer you stay here, the longer your form will appear to sleep in the human world. It would be best if we continue on."
"Lead on," Skyler quipped. "Let's get this party started."
Nought rolled his shoulders in irritation. "Very well," He said after a moment, then swept his hand forward. "Pick a door."
"Pick a door. Any door." Skyler said under her breath. "Alright."
Skyler walked to the nearest door, since all the doors looked alike, she didn't think it would matter which she chose. Grasping the knob, the twisted and pushed the heavy door open and entered what looked to be a cave of some kind.
Frowning in confusion, Skyler took in the area. The walls, jaggedly cut stone from years of weather and wear, were covered in a fine layer of moisture. There was the faint sound of water dripping nearby, but Skyler thought that might be deceiving considering the echo and acoustics of the chamber.
The door she'd come through shut with a loud thump, and she whirled to find Nought standing there instead of the door.
"Where are…" Skyler began, but was cut off as Nought raised his finger to his lips in a motion for her to be quiet.
"Shhh," He said softly. "They come."
Skyler wanted to ask who was coming, but then she heard the footfalls behind her as someone entered the cave.
She turned and stared in surprise as three familiar figures came into view.
It was her mother and her aunts… who she now knew were the three sisters of Shakespeare's 'double double, toil and trouble' fame.
"It has been long, sisters, since we have found our way here," Luna said, with her mane of silvery-white hair sparkling in the light coming from the mouth of the cave.
"Yes," Skyler's mother, the blond-haired Phoebe said, "It has been quite some time since we journeyed from our station guarding the isle of Avalon."
The raven-haired Selene came last, her fists clenching at her side. "It was pointless to stay, once the magus and those humans with him managed to get past us."
"But that was almost a hundred years ago, sister," Luna said. "It is pointless now to dwell upon that."
"Yes," Phoebe said, turning to face Luna. "But there is a reason that you called us here, sister. What have you seen?"
"I have seen much, sisters, but," Luna frowned, her arms crossing at her waist, "There is a reason that I called you to this place."
"Tell us, sister," Selene said, mirroring the posture Luna took, though hers was more aggressive while Luna's looked defensive.
"Many of our kind have taken Oberon's leniency on his laws to heart," Luna said.
"Of course they have," Phoebe said with a nod, crossing her own arms so that the three of them mirrored each other. "Many of those who have only known Avalon and her rules were looking forward to spreading their wings with their new found freedom."
"But, sisters," Luna said, "Many of those will bring forth a new generation. Children born half of our kind and half human."
Selene let out a frustrated sigh. "Those not fully Fae are none of our concern."
"But they will be," Luna said darkly, her eyes beginning to glow as she seemed to look at something the others couldn't see. "Those born half in our world and half from another will attempt to rise up and take what they think is their birthright upon Avalon."
Selene scoffed. "Then they will fail. None born from humans have ever had the power to overtake our lord, Oberon."
"Seperately, no," Luna agreed, the glow dimming from her eyes as she once more focused on her sisters.
Phoebe seemed to ponder this, "But even those with weakened powers, once they join together, could have enough power to do so."
"As a single stick may be broken with bare hands," Luna said with a nod. "But gather enough together, and it takes tremendous force to break them."
"Then what is to be done?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes," Selene all but growled. "Are we to hunt down each and every one of our brethren and stop them?"
Luna shook her head. "T'would make no difference, sister. Even now, there are children being born that will upset the balance."
"Then what can we do?" Phoebe asked.
"There is a child," Luna said, reaching to take her sister's hands, "A child born of one of us, one who will hold the power to stop such an uprising."
"From one of us?" Selene scoffed. "Which of us would bear such a child, raise it and train it?"
"That is…" Luna frowned, "Unclear. I have not seen who would carry the child, only the outcome. She will not be halved, but fully Fae. She will possess the power to protect Avalon and those she holds dear. She will also be able to amplify the powers of those close to her, and in doing so, she will stop the whelps from overtaking our rightful lands."
"A fully fae child," Phoebe said slowly. "But who…"
"I have told you all that I am able to see," Luna said sharply. "The rest will be shown before the event is to happen. It will not be for several hundred years yet."
Selene shook her head. "But what of the Gathering? What happens should Oberon call us home before this child is able to stop the uprising?"
"We hide it," Phoebe said softly. "We, together, raise the child and prepare it for what needs to be done."
"You are suggesting that we hide a child," Selene snarled, incredulous, "Hide it from our kind, and Our Lord Oberon himself?"
"Yes," Luna said, nodding her head. "It is the only way. The child must be raised amongst the humans and remain behind should the Gathering occur. They must be left behind in order to form the defenses needed to aid us."
"That is not possible," Phoebe said firmly. "Once the child is training, using their abilities, Oberon would be made aware of their presence."
"I did not say that it would be easy," Luna said. "I am telling you, my sisters, what I have seen."
"Should we not just hunt down these half-formed fae offspring?" Selene asked. "If we are to stop the uprising…"
"No," Luna said sharply. "Some of those born are meant to be. Some will be useful tools for us in the future, though it will be hard to tell who they are at such a young age."
"What of when they come into their powers?" Phoebe asked. "Would we not be able to tell which ones will be worth saving and which to…"
Luna sighed. "You do not understand, sisters, and the future is still cloudy enough that I would be unable to tell. Human futures are not so simple. So much depends upon the choices they make in life. For good or ill, I am afraid that we cannot simply hunt down these children and dispose of them."
"It would make no difference," Phoebe waved that away. "If those that will rise up are so far in the future, doing anything now would be pointless."
"Yes," Luna said.
"Very well," Selene said with a sigh. "Luna, you are to tell us when the time is coming, and we will meet again. The decision will hopefully be clearer then, and we will be able to discuss this further."
"Agreed," Phoebe said with a firm nod. "We meet here, in this place, once a century until Luna's vision clears. Any decisions will wait until that time."
"Agreed, sister," Selene said.
"Very well," Luna said with a nod.
And with that, the three women vanished in a brilliant green flash of faerie fire, leaving Skyler and Nought alone in the cave with the slow drip of water echoing around them.
