Mithana rushed through the halls of the Academy as she desperately tried to keep sudden tears at bay. She threw the door which led to the dark faerie dormitory open and took the stairs two at a time. When she reached her room, she shut her door tightly and let her tears fall down her face.
She couldn't understand why those faeries had helped her but she wished they hadn't. It was humiliating enough to be picked on but to have to rely on someone else for protection was even worse. She sighed as she sat down on her bed. She recalled the question the fire faerie had asked her.
She had been truthful when she said most if not all dark faeries hated her. What she had stopped herself from saying was the reason. She hated her magic. She hated everything about her element. Since that fateful day she had seen another dark faerie cast evil spells over another faerie she had refused to use and practice dark magic. Because of this, she was most likely the weakest dark faerie to ever live in Faerieland.
When her family had discovered that she hated darkness they had shunned her and called her traitor. It was no different with other dark faeries that were not related to her.
And then, there was that other reason. The one she refused to think about. The one that made even the nicest and most accepting of dark faeries look at her with disgust and hate.
The little faerie lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. She ignored the bell which summoned students to class. She wouldn't go. Her teacher would probably be angry with her no doubt but she didn't care all that much. Especially since that class was mathematics.
Lithine, Nova and Ariella walked to dinner after their history class. Nova was trying to solve some pathetically easy questions and having no luck with it. It had stunned her friends to find out that their fire faerie companion was horrible at history and she hated it as well.
Lithine only listen partially while Ariella gave Nova the correct answers as they entered the dining hall. Her caramel colored eyes scanned the crowd for one person in particular. When the light faerie didn't find that person, she shrugged and grabbed one of the trays.
She had just finished getting her food when she saw a familiar flash of black and purple. When she turned to get a better look, she saw Mithana the dark faerie slump deeper into her chair as she tried to hide behind the table in the far corner of the room.
"Oh look," she said to the other girls casually. "There's our little friend." Nova and Ariella looked in the direction of the dark faerie.
"Well, what do you know," smiled Nova. "Come on, let's go sit with her."
Both Lithine and Ariella stared at the fire faerie, surprised that she wanted to sit with the dark faerie. Slowly, smiles appeared on their faces and they followed their friend over to the table.
Mithana glared at them when they approached.
"What do I have to do to get rid of you three?" she demanded crossly.
"Hello to you too," said Lithine casually as she put her tray down. The little dark faerie put her head in her hands and began to mutter under her breath.
"Sorry, didn't catch that," smiled Ariella as she sat down. Mithana gave her an annoyed look.
"How did your classes go?" questioned Lithine innocently. Mithana ignored her and Nova talked in her place.
The girls chatted about teachers and what homework they had been given. Mithana, who was looking humiliated, said nothing throughout the whole meal. When Lithine and the others got up, the dark faerie didn't follow. The light faerie turned toward her.
"Are you coming?" she asked.
"Why can't you understand that associating with me is asking for trouble?" Mithana shot back.
"Trouble?" questioned Nova with a smile. "Who cares?"
"You're all insane!" snapped Mithana. Despite this however, she stood up and followed them out of the cafeteria.
When the four faeries reached their lockers, Mithana turned towards them. Lithine prepared herself for another argument.
"Listen," began the little faerie. "I appreciate the help you gave me but I'm being serious when I tell you to stay away from me. It won't do either you or me any good."
"Mithana," said Lithine with a sigh. "We know you're being serious but to be perfectly honest, we don't care. It doesn't matter to us if you aren't liked by the other dark faeries. We're not trying to act brave when we say that if you're cousin comes back, we'll fight her. She was wrong to bully you like that and we intend to prove it to her."
Mithana looked stunned. She looked down, her cheeks going red with shame. When she spoke, her voice was very quiet.
"You don't understand." she said. "Even if Sirine did leave me alone, you still wouldn't want to hang around with me."
"Why not," asked Ariella.
"I hate my magic!" snapped Mithana. "Why would people like you, want to be near a weakling like me?" She turned toward Ariella and Lithine. "You've seen me in spell casting. You know I can't do anything when it comes to magic."
Lithine had to admit that she had been surprised when she saw that Mithana couldn't even summon darkness. A faerie who couldn't summon her own element was, well, kind of pathetic. Mithana saw the look on her face.
"You see," she said, almost sadly. "That's…" Her voice was cut off by the ringing of the bell. All four girls jumped at the sound. Mithana glanced at them before quickly turning to leave.
"Wait," called Nova. The dark faerie looked at her. "What class do you have?"
"I have my free period now," muttered the little faerie. She winced when a huge smile broke out on Nova's face and instantly regretted telling her what class she had. Just her luck that Nova had the same free period as she did. After hugging both Lithine and Ariella, the fire faerie ran to catch up.
"Are you any good at history?" she asked. Mithana shrugged. "Good. You can help me then. Let's go out to the courtyard." The little dark faerie knew it would useless trying to get rid the persistent faerie, so she followed without protest.
Mithana soon found herself sitting cross-legged on the well-cared for grass with a text book in one hand and a worksheet in the other as she tried to help Nova finish her history homework. She had just finished helping her answer the last question when a voice sounded behind them.
"Well, if it isn't two of our favorite people." sneered Sirine to her friends. Mithana jumped at the sound of her cousin. Nova turned around and gave a falsely sweet smile to the dark faeries.
"Can we help you with something?" she asked.
"Actually, I was hoping you would chat with my friends here." smiled Sirine. "But I would like a word with my cousin." Mithana dodged away from Sirine, but the older faerie was quicker. She grabbed the little faerie's arm and began to drag her away from the group.
Seeing what the dark faerie had done, Nova leapt to her feet, a fireball hovered several inches above her palm. Sirine's friends hissed and immediately conjured their own balls of darkness. Seeing the fire faerie's danger, Mithana shook her head to indicate she was okay. She let Sirine pull her until they were well out of earshot.
"You little brat," hissed Sirine. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What do you mean," retorted Mithana. "I'm not doing anything."
"You know what I mean," snarled her cousin. Her grip on Mithana's arm was becoming increasingly painful. "Why are you hanging out with them?"
"It wasn't my idea," snapped the little dark faerie.
"Liar!" Sirine twisted Mithana's arm so that the little faerie gasped in pain. "Stop hanging around with them or…"
"Or what?" questioned Mithana. "Since when do you care about what I do? Did you have a sudden change of heart or did your mother put you up to it? I'm guessing it was the latter."
Sirine snarled as she knocked her cousin off her feet. She stood towering over her as she spoke
"If I see you with them one more time," she hissed through clenched teeth. "I swear I'll make you regret it." Without another word, the dark faerie strode off toward the building while beckoning her friends to follow.
Once the dark faeries were out of sight, Nova quickly made her way over to Mithana. She helped the little faerie up, only to be shrugged off once Mithana had regained her footing.
"Are you all right?" questioned the fire faerie.
"I'm fine," snapped Mithana. "Never been better." Knowing she was being rude but not caring, the dark faerie walked over to where their school things lay scattered on the ground and instantly began shoving them back into her book bag. She froze when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that it was Nova. Concern filled the fire faerie's eyes.
"Don't listen to her." she said. "Don't give her the satisfaction of knowing she got to you. What she says probably isn't true."
Mithana looked at the faerie. Should she tell her about her family? Should she tell her about Sirine's threat? At that moment, Mithana's dark faerie pride kicked in. No, she thought. She wouldn't, or couldn't understand.
Another voice spoke in Mithana's head. One that she rarely ever listened to though it was probably the voice with more sense.
How do you know she wouldn't understand? it snapped at her. You'll never know until you say something.