Verboten
Chapter 32
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Disclaimer: I do not own the Winx Club.
Fore Note: Yeah, it's not about the present. I wanted it to be by the end of this chapter but I realized that this chapter would be huge then. Plus, I want to finish what I started properly.
"Forget about Ogron and Gauntlos for now, Bloom. Let's go." Sky was a man on a mission. He wanted out as soon as possible. Logically and methodically, he figured out where the church was by hopping unto a roof and looking for a building with a cross at the top. The church was the emptiest building of all in the entire town, abandoned. With Sky leading, he opened the heavy door slowly and slipped in discretely. Asta and Bloom followed. The room was humid and there was a strong smell of incense. Bloom looked at the stone angel beside the door, holding the stoup for the holy water in its hands. It was almost empty.
The church was small, small for even modern ones. The benches were plain, unlike the carved church rows that she was used to. The altar at front was nothing more than a spindly table and a wooden carving of the crucifix hung on the wall above it. The air was thick with dust and a handful of fat prayer candles were lit in the far corner of the church. There was the sound of murmuring.
Sky walked down the aisles and looked in the direction of the candles while Asta stared at the altar and crucifix, obviously disturbed. Bloom followed Sky.
"Lord, this is Roxy. Please, give me strength. Help me or guide me. I need your help, please," a pink-haired girl whispered tearfully. Roxy kneeled in front of the table of candles with her hands folded in front of her in prayer. Her eyes were closed and her hair was a mess. She wore jeans and a pink shirt with sneakers.
Sky approached her from her side. He purposely kicked a pebble so that it bounced across the floor. Roxy turned at the sound of the pebble, terrified.
"Sky? What are you doing here?!"
"We're here to bring you back, Roxy," Sky said.
She looked at him confused. She saw that Asta and Bloom were also present.
"It's hard to explain here but if you come with us, you'll know what I mean."
"But—"
"Roxy, we know you're scared but you can get through this." Sky said gently and turned to Bloom for support.
Bloom stiffened, surprised. "Yeah, everything will be fine in the end." Bloom took tentative steps towards Roxy.
"What happened to you?" Roxy gave Bloom an once-over at her outfit and adolescent wings.
"It's…a long story." Bloom kneeled beside Roxy. "Are you okay?"
Roxy backed away from Bloom, terrified. "Don't come near me! I don't want anymore of this! No more magic! I didn't want any of this. I want to be normal!"
"Roxy, please understand—" Bloom started.
"No, you understand me! I didn't want any of this! Who said that I had to know what I am?! You could have just zapped my mind with a memory spell or something and leave me alone. I didn't want any of this!"
Sky watched the exchange. "Well, we didn't want any of this either so the feeling is mutual," he said rather coldly. "Normal is what you make of it, Roxy. You have two choices: you can come with us back to the real world or you can stay here and die."
"Sky?!" Asta and Bloom yelled.
"Die? What are you talking about?" Roxy said feigning confusion. Sky saw the lack of conviction.
"You know what's going on here. You're in the process of committing mental suicide by amnesia. Think of all the problems you'll cause when you wake up. Roxy, right now you are in a coma and Klaus is at the side of your bed hoping that you'll wake up as the same daughter that he knows."
"My father is in the hospital!" Sheer terror passed through her eyes at the mention of her father.
"Wrong, it's been a week since your last visit and he's been released. He's at the warehouse waiting. He knows everything. Us, the guys, the Winx, the operation and you."
"Why did you bring him into this?!" she screamed enraged. "He's not supposed to know!" She got up, emanating violence.
Sky stood his ground. "He is has every right to know. He's your father and he loves you. I'm giving you two choices: come back or stay here and die."
"I'm not going to die!" Roxy squeaked, saying 'die' as if she were scared of saying it. "I'm just going to wipe away all the bad memories!"
"Amnesia is just as permanent as death. It is the death of your personality, of the person that your father raised and loved. Can you commit to that, Roxy? Will you hurt your father like this when he realizes that you don't remember anything? Not only does he have to worry about his health but also about his daughter's now. He has one arm in a sling that he won't be able to use for several months and now a daughter with no memories. All his love for you shattered when you cannot reciprocate it properly."
Sky was shaming her by using her father's relationship and condition, Bloom saw. Her blood turned to ice and then boiled dangerously at his personality switch. He was playing Devil's advocate, acting as a necessary evil.
At the same time, she had to agree with him. He was right. Could Roxy really do that to her own father? Bloom had thought that she was stronger than this.
"I don't believe that you love your crippled father if you're so willing to cause him more problems. What a selfish person you are, maybe you're better off dying."
Roxy could not take this anymore. Her resolve was crumbling and she resorted to only thing that came to mind. She threw herself at Sky. She was a ball of fury, punching and kicking him. "Shut up, you ass! I love my father! Don't you dare call him that!" She aimed a punch at his jaw and felt like she hit a wall. At this she backed away.
Sky was unfazed. He knew his words were mean. He rubbed a hand on his jaw where she had hit him. "If you really loved your father, you would come back, wake up and deal with your problems instead of running away from them. We can be your friends, not only me, Bloom, Asta, Brandon or Stella but everyone else like Artos and Chandra. We can help you get through all of this but you have to be willing to accept it all first.
"We all have families who worry about us, Roxy. Believe it or not. My mother wants me home ASAP because I need to run a kingdom; Bloom has to get reacquainted with her real parents who haven't seen her in eighteen years; Layla and Nabu have to prepare for their wedding on Tides and the rest of the guys have to go back so that they can go into service for their worlds. Every parent is terrified of seeing their own children die and your father is no exception. If Brandon were to ever die under me, who do you think would be the one to bring back his dog tag to his parents and sisters?
"I understand what you're going through but that this is not the way to do it. There are alternatives, much better than this. If you come with us, we will show you how to make it better."
"I want to be normal," Roxy said looking at the floor for answers. She felt like she was cornered. "I don't want to change."
"Change is constant, Roxy. It is up to you to accept it or not. You make your own choices, Roxy." He was extending trust, making her believe that she was still in control.
A feeling of déjà vu passed over Roxy. "We're only a voice in your head. You make your own choices, Roxy."
"Will you come with us? I will do everything in my power to make it better," Sky promised. He offered a hand, as if to guide her.
"It's up to you to pick your friends and enemies. Will you accept your changes?" that weird voice from her dream had said.
What this one of the changes?
"Okay," she said. She reached for Sky's hand, completely played by his ploy but hoping for the best.
-
The beginning of the year 1347 was bleak and dreary for the magical creatures that had convened in Sicillia. As soon as it was possible, a fleet had set off for Africa. Meadhbh, Bladen and Steorra were included. They had gone to fight a war that they could not see. Nebula had been left at 'home.' She felt all sorts of emotions: enraged at being left behind and terrified that she would never see them again and that the danger was just that great.
She was not the only one who had been left behind though. There was Mirela and Ayesha and mainly the women who had been left behind along with a heavy defense. It was a typical tactic. She didn't know what but something inside told her that it was all just going to go wrong. That or she just restless. She had become acquainted with Ayesha, helping her to improve her English and accepting her new life.
She had no idea what was going on. She wished she knew. Her brother got to know everything because he was older and much more important in the entire scheme of the universe. He undoubtedly knew what was going on because he had uneasily avoided the subject of sailing to Africa like a swarm of locust.
At the same time, she did not want to bother him too much about it. He looked like he was carrying a heavy weight already. He wore the look that he always wore when he was about to leave and the very possibility of never back was real. One late night, just a week ago before the fleet had left, she had caught scraps of conversation in the common room that she was probably never meant to hear. It was not anything illicit but that fact that her brother had said anything like that put her on edge.
"I don't think that I'm going to come back from this whole," she heard him say as she came down the stairs for something to drink.
The common room was almost empty and dark with the fire in the chimney reduced to hot glowing ashes. Steorra poked cinder with a poker, trying to get it to relight. Frustrated, threw a heavy log in made it burst into flames with a flick of his wrist until it burned steadily by itself.
He sat himself on the carpet before it, absorbing the heat.
"How can you be sure of that?" Someone, a woman, sat on a chair. She spoke quietly, making Nebula strain her ears.
"I just know."
"Aurora and her ice castle are going to leave soon. She's not staying with us to see the turn of events. She said that she's done her purpose for now and you know where she's going? Tir Nan Og to wait it out!" Steorra almost shouted in frustration.
"Tir Nan Og? What is that?"
"It's where I come from. It's a hidden island in Eire."
There was a moment of hesitation. "You must miss it then."
"Yes. Mother, Father, Mu Lan, almost everyone is going to Africa. They figured what the patterns behind the murders were but I'm terrified of why they're killing people. I just don't know what to do. Half the time, I'm scared about the unknown."
"It's natural to be scared of the unknown, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I think it's going to be worst than that."
"How?"
"I don't know."
There was a long silence and Steorra stared at the crackling fire.
"I'm scared that I'm not going to see Nebula or Morgana or you anymore. It feels like that."
"Don't talk like that."
After that, Nebula had walked away from that conversation as fast as possible into her room and curled into her bed, scared. She prayed to every god she knew that her family would be whole by the end of this ordeal. Everyone prayed because it was the only thing that they could do. They prayed to the upper echelons of the universe that had sent them to Earth.
It was almost the end of February now. Nebula had been immediately ensconced in reading poetry and pieces of work literature ever since the men had left on Morgana's orders. She couldn't for the life of her understand why this was important. She already knew how to read and write in three languages!
They were in the library, along with Mirela, her sisters and several other women. Morgana made the girls and women read difficult pieces of literature aloud in turn.
"A creature strong,
Without flesh, without bone,
Without veins, without blood,
Without head, and without feet.
It will not be older, it will not be younger,
Than it was in the beginning.
What a horrible sounding thing! What kind of man imagines these things?!" Mirela dropped the Book of Taliesin in her lap. She had been reading Kanu Ygwynt, the Song of the Wind.
"Exactly, only men could," someone said.
Far the women's circle, Cipriano skimmed manuscripts in the small library. He coughed to remind the women of his presence. Cipriano had been kept in Sicillia for purely practical reasons, as he was a priest who could safely divert the Church's gaze should something happen.
Morgana looked to the ceiling for help. "There is a lesson in this, Mirela. All words have meaning. They also have power. Our magic comes from being able to dictate aloud what we want to happen if it is beyond simple thought. I can make a book fly"—Morgana pointed at the Book of Taliesin and it levitated in front of Mirela—"but I can't make it burn without saying 'burn.' Fire is not my ability, air is. We aren't as powerful as Queen Meadhbh or Lady Mu Lan. Queen Meadhbh can move islands without thinking and Lady Mu Lan can bring lightning on clear days—all of this without words."
"But they're older than us and more powerful," Mirela argued.
The book dropped on Mirela's lap. "But they are women, aren't they? As powerful as men? One day, we might live to be as old as them, too. Even though the men are in Africa, we still have a role. We can't hold a sword like a man can but we still have magic to defend ourselves. We are weak in the sense that we have no real bodily strength but we do have senses: our eyes and ears. We see and hear things that men think we aren't aware of and that is important.
"Queen Meadhbh and Lady Mu Lan aren't like us. They don't live under their husbands, they aren't kept—they live beside them in equity. Of course, they fulfill the role of a woman by being mothers, Nebula and Steorra are proof of this, but they choose not to observe the usual view." Morgana glanced at Cipriano's back for a moment. "That is the Church's view," she whispered.
"Well, I don't believe in it either," Mirela said. Some of the other women nodded as well.
"But who is it that hunts for dinner when you travel."
"That doesn't mean anything! I can set rabbit and squirrel traps."
"But who actually brings food to your table everyday? Certainly not you. They don't see roles defined by gender."
"They can pick up a sword, I can pick up a bow, Morgana."
"Can you willingly take the life of another, not an animal, but a human?" The chattering women were silenced by Morgana's words. "Words have meaning, and they have power but we only have so much power with so many words. That is why we are reading."
"To learn more words?" Nebula said. "Words are your powers, Morgana, not ours. You're the Fairy of Limning."
"Words are still power. The more the words you know the more precision you can execute and manifest your powers and ideas."
"I don't understand. What is your point?"
"The point is that you need to expand your horizons. Don't limit yourself to only the magic that you do know. Let me show you. Like moths to fire, eat all light."
Shapeless masses of darkness dropped from the ceiling like blobs of slime unto every source of light. A woman screamed as the masses swallowed all the candles and torches, one had thrown itself into the fire and the others slithered to the windows. The room was pitch black, as if it were night.
"Leoht." Nebula lighted a ball of light in her palm. Something projected itself at the ball and she yelped in surprise. It furry but a sort of mushy and made a squishing sound. The light was swallowed in an instant.
"What was that?!" someone squealed.
Nebula tried to feel around in the darkness. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her. She felt the edges of her seat, a table, the book in her lap. She felt an all-consuming sense of panic, being completely blinded.
Morgana let the darkness recede into the ceiling and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Some of them rubbed their eyes.
"You're not as experienced as me," Morgana said, "but in this world, we need to be prepared, whether we are running from humans or fighting our own." Morgana met all of the women's eyes. She looked about as if something was missing. "Where is Father Cipriano?"
-
Africa was ridiculously and agonizingly hot for Steorra. How people managed to live in these places was beyond him. At first, it had been beaches and soaring palm trees. It had been like a vacation after the leaving the wintery Europe but as they went upriver, it slowly became dense salty swamps and unbearable mosquitoes that bit at him at every chance. He had changed to lighter clothes and armour to compensate for the heat.
He was on a small boat headed upriver into the heartland of Africa. His two other companions were Ruairi and Gaetano. Ruairi was a childhood friend whose father was a smith and work for Steorra's family. Steorra had only met Gaetano recently when Shang was dividing the forces into small parties. Gaetano was an archer and bowyer by trade but he did know how to carry a sword. Ahead of him, his mother in her minimized pixie-like form scouted ahead. The boat lazily followed Meadhbh as she fluttered about.
"Wish we knew where we going, Steorra," Ruairi said.
"Don't ask me. I didn't see the map. I only know why we're here."
"The less we know, the better?" Gaetano said.
"Right. Let's just keep up with Mother." Steorra pointed at a dense copse of trees that Meadhbh flew into.
They turned the boat and sighed as the shade from the tree top cooled them. They kept their eyes and ears open. It was unnaturally quiet and the trees were getting denser and denser as they went in until there was almost no light. Meadhbh glowed orange in the shadows. A few more moments of drifting in the shadows and they felt the felt the boat jolt against a hard surface.
"We're here," Meadhbh announced. She showered herself in fairy dust and returned to her normal size. She radiated an orange light that allowed the men to see the knotty and uneven floor.
Steorra looked underfoot, curious as to how the floor was made. It was like thousands upon thousands of vines and tree roots had woven themselves into a hard but soft carpet. Some parts of it were soggy and rotting and it made him nervously. Looking up, he saw the curved and spiraled patterns form in the jagged ceiling. Were they inside of a tree?
The four of them moved deeper into the tree cautious. Their steps made the most unsettling noises. They tried for silence but every step was an unknown. They did not know whether they step on a solid root or soft one.
In this place, Steorra could sense the spiritual resonance of something powerful: the deafening heartbeat of an extremely large being. The walls were covered with a bioluminescent substance and they glowed rhythmically with the heartbeat. All of the men were wary of the glow but Meadhbh walked ahead, undaunted by the phenomena and then stopped for a moment.
"Mother?" Steorra called out.
"Just listen. Do you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The pulse of this planet. It's wonderful."
"Of course," Steorra said, unsure. He looked to Ruairi and Gaetano for assurance. There some things that he knew that he could not relate to with his mother because she was a fairy and he supposed that this was one of them.
"Don't lie. Break that one beat and try to decompose that one sound into many and you will hear the life of this planet. Don't use your ears."
"I don't understand."
"The pulse of this planet is not like a human pulse. It is not a real sound but a collection of memories gathered from everything that has ever lived and died. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust as if were. Everything eventually returns to the planet with new knowledge and experiences. If a human were to come in here, he would not hear what you are hearing simply because he so disconnected to the planet. You three think it's a sound because that's it is translated, it is how we usually think of the sound of the heart."
"Wait, we're at the planet's heart?!" Ruairi shouted in alarm.
"It's only a vein, Ruairi, not the heart. Let's keep moving forward. Someone should have met us already."
Steorra instinctively pulled out his sword and Gaetano and Ruairi did the same. Meadhbh did not stop them.
Moving forward with caution, the green bioluminescence started to define itself like roots over every surface around them. It was eerie the way it pulsed with the unknown heartbeat. There was no true source of the sound because it came every direction and nowhere at the same time. They knew they were hearing something but whether it was a real sound or something from inside their head was unknown.
The glowing roots on the walls, floor and ceiling grew tangled as they moved until the surfaces were completely covered. The tunnel opened into a cathedral-size room. The men gasped in awe at the sheer simplicity of it. There was something extremely primal and dirty about it yet so uniquely magnificent and wondrous about the eerie glow that pulsed throughout the chamber like a real heart. There were roots everywhere of every size and glow moved about like blood in an artery. Steorra could swear that he saw some of them moving. The floor dropped into a dangerous incline towards a small almost insignificant pool of glowing water the size of a pond, the originator of the booming pulse.
"What is that?" Gaetano pointed at the pool.
"What is all of this?" Ruairi asked.
Meadhbh spoke in a reverent whisper. "The vein of the planet."
"Is that the fountain, Mother?" Steorra whispered closely, not wanting the other two to hear.
She nodded imperceptibly. "Stay here, you three," she ordered softly which surprised Steorra. He usually saw his mother as a more militant-like person with a harsh commanding voice when it involved everything other than raising him.
"But why?"
"The temptation will be too great." The fae queen threw her long hair back and stepped forward. She slipped down the slippery incline before anyone could stop her. She came to a stop at the edge of the pool and looked in.
She felt her senses overload as she looked. She saw millions upon millions of lives swim in the pool. There were not only humans but the largest of creatures to the smallest, some of them terrifying but innately marvelous for simply having existed once. She saw the lives of bacteria and of extinct behemoth lizard-like creatures. She saw both the magical and non-magical mix and mingle. She heard the voices of uncountable amounts, heard different emotions: a baby's first breathe, a young man screaming as his limbs pulled apart by horses, a woman silently dying in labour, a deaf child's wonder. All of these sounds and many more comprised of the heartbeat of the Earth.
Meadhbh saw the beauty of the present, of living and knowing and accepting one's existence. She saw many things that she doubted that she would not remember for they were too great. Her one small consciousness could not handle it. She saw things that she supposed that she was never meant to know.
Dizzy, she felt her legs and weaken she almost fell into the fountain until she remembered Aurora's words.
"If you touch the water without calling its guardian, you will die. This fountain's guardian nymphe is both the fountain and the guardian. This one's name is Munashe. Call it out before you become too engrossed with the secrets of the water. The water will tempt you with the knowledge of life. That is how it will kill you for it also knows the secrets of death." Those were Aurora's instructions to Meadhbh.
The fae queen struggled to regain control of her body and say the fountain's name.
"It will be easier if a fairy goes, someone as strong as you because they are more connected to the planet by their affinity than a normal person like your son. Do not let anyone go near it if you truly love them." Meadhbh had completed that precaution, now if only she could say the name.
She struggled to form the syllables on her lips. She closed her eyes to block out the vision in the water. She was being overwhelmed by its sheer existence and knowledge. "Munashe!" Meadhbh screamed.
There was a thunderous roar of wind. Meadhbh fell onto her backside, pushed by the sudden magical wind radiating from the fountain. The water rippled and Meadhbh's heart almost gave out. A blue hand shot out from the water and grabbed on to the edge.
"Mother!" Steorra screamed.
A naked body heaved itself out of the pool. It was lithe, slightly feminine and blue like the ocean. Its hair was fiery red and tangled. Meadhbh could vaguely make out glimmering scales all over its body. The nymph looked like a drowned woman.
"I am the crinaeae Munashe. I guard this fount." Its voice was a like a dozen beings were speaking through it. The blue nymph briefly looked around, searching for something in the chamber. "I will kill you," it finally said. The nymph raised one arm and it transformed into a sharp shining spike. It jumped into the air faster than Meadhbh could see and aimed to impale the fae queen.
"Mother!"
The three men jumped down the incline with their weapons raised. Steorra deflected the spike. Unintentionally, he sliced it and the spike turned to water that fell all over him and his mother. Ruairi pulled Meadhbh up and away from the scene.
"Gaetano, do something!" Ruairi screamed.
"My magic isn't working here!" He shot a dozen arrows at the nymph's blue face. They hit their target but the nymph was unfazed. The arrows rotted at a supernatural speed and turned to dust. The arrowheads were absorbed into its body.
Steorra ducked and parried all of the nymph's attacks unsure of how to kill it. He was not fighting a person but an animal. And probably immortal at that. The nymph moved like a cat with the ferocity of a lion.
"Munashe, we're not interested in immortality!" Meadhbh pulled away from Ruairi.
The nymph froze, perplexed by the words. "Then why are you here?"
Steorra backed away from the nymph towards his mother, placing himself like a true shield between it and the fae queen.
"We're here to warn you. Your mortal guardian, Chiemeka, Chikere's father, he's dead and Chikere doesn't fully understand his duties. He's doesn't know about the fountain."
"I know," it said. A flicker emotion passed through the nymph's face, something like mourning.
"Please, let's calm down. No weapons, no fighting. We're here to talk. We can't waste time, Munashe."
The nymph looked uneasily at Steorra. He sheathed his sword and held his empty hands up in peace. The others did the same.
"Something has been killing guardians of the fountains," Meadhbh stated.
"I know. Chiemeka included. They had to be killed." Munashe's spike turned back into an arm and she sat down cross-legged on the floor. Meadhbh approached her and did the same. Munashe closed her eyes tightly and sighed. Her eyes glowed with signs of entrancement. "Know that this is not only Munashe speaking to you but the planet itself. Equilibrium is our goal, our duty, your duty, Meadhbh. Something seeks to destroy that. It is many and methodical. We have no real name for it yet but they are four and they wish to do worst than what we have done. Killing Chiemeka and the other mortal guardians of the founts was the only way, the absolute way to ensure the future we want but this thing is smart."
"What do you mean?"
"These four, they are men and they are not bound by loyalty to anyone. They come from all over and they wish to destroy the balance of this planet. I do not mean the life cycle or the climate, they want to destroy us. The fairies, the witches, all the magic. They want all the magic for themselves."
"But that's impossible. The only magic they could possibly take is fae magic. Witch magic is learned."
"That is why they kill witches. They work by justifying their murders as the will of the Church, Meadhbh. We have been watching them for centuries but they are slowly gaining speed. They have a weapon that will decimate us all if they fully unleash it. They must be stopped."
"What is this weapon?"
"They have created something that is beyond the collective knowledge that we already have. We do not know how to explain it to you in your words."
"How can you not know!?" Meadhbh shouted, unbelieving and scared.
"We are the accumulation of all consciousnesses on this world and we have no name for the weapon for it has never been used like this before. We are the past, the present and future but there are no words in this current time's language to describe it to you." Munashe spoke in broken words. "In the sixth century, a sickness ravaged the Byzantine Empire. It will be like that. These four, they will come in the form of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. They want to rule the world by having all the magic."
"The Apocalypse?!" Ruairi shouted.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were part of an apocalyptic prophecy from the Book of the Revelation of John, or the Apocalypse of John, in which God summoned them to wreak havoc on the world after the Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes the scroll from God and opens its seals. The four horsemen were representations of the first four seals Jesus had opened.
Gaetano put a hand on Ruairi's shoulder. "Do you mean to say that they are Pestilence, War, Famine and Death?"
"Not Pestilence, Conquest by Pestilence. It will not be the end of world. Humans will still be here but all the magic will be gone if nothing is done. The weapon is a disease and it is already in the world. It is in Crimea already. Hundreds are dying by the day."
"Then what do we do to stop this?" Steorra asked.
"Kill them before they fully unleash it on the continent."
"And if we can't?"
"That is not an option."
"But we can't stop a disease!"
Munashe grew silent at the obvious problem. They did not have the knowledge of the twentieth century or even the hygienic habits. They could not change a world overnight by telling them to bath regularly. Clean drinkable water was a commodity. There was not enough clean water in the world to support a clean world unless everyone lived at the ocean. "There is no technology or knowledge in this world that can help you to stop it. If you kill the creators, the disease will stop. This disease is like a leech or a vampire or a hive of bees. It sucks you dry of your magic until you die and sends it to these four men. These men control it like a queen and her hive. If there is no queen, the hive will fall apart."
"But what does this have to do with the fountains of youth?"
"They want to rule the world, Meadhbh. They want to rule it forever."
"And so they want a drink from the fountain of youth?"
"Only one of them. Two of them are already immortal."
Meadhbh swallowed hard. "How?"
"We don't know. They all have different methods. We tried to send fairies after them—" Fairies whose purpose were to kill like Ekene. "—but failed. This is why we called you all to Sicilia. You are our last hope. You must do it for you own survival, Meadhbh. Steorra might survive but Nebula will not." Meadhbh's hands flew to her mouth in fear.
Steorra dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around his mother, to reassure her that he was still alive. "Mother, there's still a chance! Everything will be alright, Mama."
"Do these men have names?" Gaetano asked. Meadhbh became pale and almost incapable of continuing.
"Many but one of them is currently Cipriano del Rossi."
"Nebula!" Meadhbh screamed in horror.
"The priest?!" Steorra said outraged. "Goddammit, we left him in Sicilia! We have to move now!" He stood up ready to run back to the boat.
"And the other three?" Gaetano asked.
"The one in Africa calls himself Anagan. The other two, we don't know the name but we know their appearance. Look."
Munashe lifted a blue hand and the chamber was engulfed in light. Three men came to stand behind Munashe. The first man wore armour and chainmail with a white robe and cloak. Over his robe was a black cross. His shield was also white with a black cross and he held a long sword in his other hand. He had a mane of uncombed white blond hair and brown eyes. He had a strong jaw that belied a savage confidence and demon-like smile. They all recoiled at the sight of Kasimir Abendroth.
The second man, barely an adult, was a well-dressed noble or someone who was wealthy and, by the style of his clothes, mostly like French. He had chin-length strawberry blond hair and shrewd sickly yellow eyes. The third one was Anagan with his dark tattooed skin, long braided hair and ragged and torn robes and cloak.
With well-placed fear in their hearts, the four quickly set out for the ocean.
-
Aurora did not used to be a liar by character but her affinity and her duties required her to be. At times, those lines blurred and that scared her. She hoped that the fact that she suffered much insecurity about beauty and morality meant she was to some extent still human. Unfortunately, she did not have the comfort of time to mull over this dilemma.
She had said that she would go straight to Tir Nan Og and watch over Meadhbh's kingdom. All the fae queen wanted her to do was make sure that everything was in order. It was not a complete lie but she did take a small detour.
Aurora tangled a lock of hair between her fingers as she fluttered between trees in a winter-covered forest. She could feel that a heavy snowfall was coming judging from the dark sky.
Scratch that, she took a major detour. She had sailed across the ocean to the continent whose simple-minded people she grew to love and fear. She knew that it was only eminent that Europeans would cross the ocean and find this world and was not sure what to expect for the people who already lived there.
She was alone in the forest, having left her tower and fairy hive behind in the ocean.
She looked at the snow-covered ground for clues, looking for a trail that led to her quarry. There was frozen blood on the forest floor and she followed it. She sped through the familiar forests intently until she reached a campsite. There was a large roaring fire going in the center of a temporary settlement of the Algonquin camp surrounded by teepees. She landed somewhere in the middle of the camp, hoping to cause a stir. The fur clad men and women were cleaning their recent kill and weapons. All of them rose in alarm at her appearance.
She hoped she was not being dramatic but time was of the essence for her.
"Aurora?" one of them called out. This made her glad that they still recognized her after being gone for so long.
"Where is Sokanon?" she asked. Her eyes fell on every face around her. They were all silent. "Sokanon, where is she?" she repeated.
"I am here!" a young woman cried out cheerfully. "Aurora, it is good to see you." Sokanon crawled out of a tent, wearing heavy furs with a squirrel running around in her hood and a gray wolf dogging her feet. She had jet black hair, tanned skin and a vibrant smile.
Aurora felt muscles and wings relax. She had not realized that she was so nervous. The very fact that this fairy had not gone off rushing to Europe like every other magical being was both reassuring and saddening. Diana and her hive of fairies from the south were Aurora's literal polar opposite and they had moved to Africa after hearing the call. As she Aurora was Fairy of the North, Diana was the Fairy of the South. Aurora was the winter and Diana was summer, Aurora brought death and Diana continued life. The Bororo queen however preferred to call herself the Fairy of Nature as that was the true facet of her abilities.
There were not that many fairies in the two continents across the ocean as there were in Europe. There was never really a need for it for the humans knew how to coexist with nature with respect and awe. In some ways, they were infinitely smarter than their European neighbours by being more in tune to nature and living a simpler life. They did not separate or consider themselves better than the animals and plants and this was what made the people of this continent truly amazing.
Unfortunately, Sokanon now held the prestigious title of being the only fairy on the two uncharted continents: the Fairy of Animals. Aurora planned to keep it that way, even trap the girl on the continent with a curse for her titular heir could be the saviour of all magical beings on Earth.
So long as Sokanon stayed away from the center of conflict, even unaware of it, there was still hope for the future because the divine beings that had chosen her had worked too late to prevent the calamity that would come.
Latter Note: I realize that this entire journey is tiring but I want to publish this entire saga into the past so it gives the present a context (unlike the show…) and puts it into real world perspective. I am completely angered at the fact that the creators did not give a chronological context of how things came to be on Earth because apparently, the fairies weren't trapped in the White Circle until the modern times.
I'm not going to spoil it for anyone but Morgana survived the Fairy Holocaust until Roxy was born which is like the late 80s (I assume). The twist is that Faragonda (and Palladium) made a slide show in Alfea that explained the Black Circle appeared on Earth during the Arthurian times which are like during the Middle Ages (est. 500AD-1500AD). Faragonda implied that the magic disappeared during that time. Does anyone see that gap?
And yes, I realise that Sky is still a jerk!
EDIT: Wait, wait, wait! We know what 'calamity' we're talking about right? Y'know, Black Death...