Frayed Knots

by FountainPenguin

"It's not my problem if you're embarrassed, Anti-Cosmo," H.P. said as I hugged my shoulders. He scratched his chin. "Hm. I suppose there's no help for it. If you honestly and truly want to wear a hat, then you'll have to secure a high position of power so no one ever dares to say anything about it that's negative in the least." (Written August 2016 - Ongoing)

4. The Hand You're Dealt

(Posted January 9, 2018)

The Hand You're Dealt

In which the Summer of the Blistered Hog occurs, and Julius is singled out for his training assessment results

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I pressed the tip of my little black wand into the final corner of the banner and muttered the words, "Stick and stay like rainy day," under my breath. Back in ancient times, incantations had been commonplace - nay, required - in order to perform what we now called starpiece variety magic to any great effect. Technology had come a long way since then. In modern day, our wands were capable of syncing up to our thought patterns and fulfilling desires with merely a twirl and a wave. Regardless, I found it comforting to chant the phrases I knew. Naming each word in the correct sequence gave me the confidence to thrust my magic through to completion, and I daresay I'm a believer that the verbal chants leant my natural abilities some much-needed additional strength.

The tip of my star-capped training wand glowed briefly with a yellow dot. When it died down and I withdrew, the Happy Friday the 13th banner stuck to the wall above the great hall entryway as well as though it had been glued.

And immediately after that, the ladder I stood on collapsed beneath me. First it shook, then it rattled, then it began to tip, and I crashed down to the stone floor. I yelped, thrashing my wand and bound wings against the air to no avail. Three young pups raced away down the hall, cackling maniacally. I sat up, spitting ribbons and streamers in various shades of blue from my mouth.

"Ooh, you bloody scoundrels! Don't you lot go running under ladders willy-nilly now! I was saving all that scrumptious bad luck for myself."

The only answer returned to me was another round of scoffing laughter. I puffed my cheeks and shook my head. Typical vagabond youth these days. I could hardly wait for the time they turned five years old like me.

A soft hum and jingling canetis rings hurried towards me down the corridor. I raised my bruised head to find Mona stretching her arm down to me, her frizzy black hair framing her face like a blurry halo.

"Any awful injuries?" she inquired, picking up my hand and pulling me to my feet. When we'd dropped from our roost that morning, she'd been wearing pink pyjamas with white lace trimming the hems of the sleeves. But for the training assessment she and I had for some Tarrow-forsaken reason thrust ourselves into that morning alongside Electro and Ashley, we'd both switched pyjamas out for robes bearing the traditional black and blue camouflage pattern which typically accompanied festivals of this nature. Mona had topped hers with her soft brown amauti. Of course, I had some doubts about the effectiveness of the camouflage look considering that even in the dark, her pale wings were so pink, they nearly glowed.

"No," I managed, and coughed into my elbow. "I've finished with the entryway now. What were you assigned to decorate for the celebration today, again? I could lend you an extra wand."

Mona smiled. "The tall tree top trio is totally taken care of. Tremendous timing, too; the time's ticked." Having said this, she gave my arm a ferocious yank, jerking my feet out of the tangled streamer grass on the floor. "Party preparations present? Please, pop to the portal passage. Anti-Elina is assigned to announce our assessment scores any instant."

"H-hold the crystal ball, Mona! We're heading to the portals? Right now? I-" I pushed my wand through my hair. My teeth clenched and relaxed almost in the same instant. "Good smoke. They're, um, finished calculating the results for this morning's exam already?"

Mona grinned. "Obviously! Anything else enormously exciting around?"

"Oh, gods," I muttered, grabbing my hair with both hands. My claws tightened around my wand. When I closed my eyes, I could still see myself standing in the centre of the training area, fumbling aimlessly back and forth as Electro and Ashley shouted and raced about me on either side. None of us had ever spent Friday the 13th in the field spreading bad luck before, but if our small team scored high enough in training, then all of that would change today. The memory made me swallow a burn in my throat. "We only just ran the assessment hardly two hours ago. I, ah, wasn't expecting the results so soon. I haven't yet prepared myself to know how I did. You remember I tripped over that snag in the rug and shattered that glass statuette. Ooh, what if Anti-Elina counts that against me? What if she counts it against all of us? What if that humiliating mistake of mine costs you all your first chance on the field? What if Electro holds a grudge against me forever after?"

As I continued to spout on with increasing agitation, working my claws into my scalp, Mona guided me along the zig-zagging castle corridors with a gentle hand on my arm. "Jeepers. Just be jovial, Julius. Your exam execution ended up extremely excellent, actually."

I bit my lower lip. Every step I took along the cold and lonely corridors had to be forced. One foot… in front… of the next. "Perhaps," I acknowledged, "but what if, Rhoswen forbid, I perhaps didn't cost us too many points on our assessment, and we manage to get greenlighted today- only for me to screw up awfully on the field? The very thought makes me shudder. Perhaps you might go toe to toe with a Fire umbra while I stand useless and awful on the sidelines. Mona!" I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her back and forth until her fangs clacked together and her eyes became crossed and dizzy (Of course, no matter how much I rattled her, it wouldn't have any effect upon her ruffled hair). "You're a Soil hitting the field for the first time in a Fire year! Ooh, I knew it. I knew this was a horrid idea. Look here; now you're going to run into an entire pod of Fire umbrae and find yourself at an extreme disadvantage, and you'll get hurt, and- and-"

Mona paused from humming one of her many favourite tunes, and turned to peer at me. The nearest torches on the walls made her shadow stretch a lot farther along the floor than mine. I stared at them, panting softly and secretly, as she said, "Forget fretting. The worst thing that can happen is feeling fright. Alleviate anxiety. Our scores are each individual, and it's individually you excel." She took my hand from my hair, threading her fingers through mine, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "And even if you face failure, retry a run the following Friday the 13th. Anti-Praxis informed us it's three 13s this year."

That, the worst thing which could happen? Ha. The worst thing that could happen was that Electro would mock me without a hint of mercy for the remainder of our very long and miserable lives. Augustus would sigh and smother me in far too much pitying affection, Mother would smack my tail, and Anti-Bryndin would tsk tsk in that soul-crushing way of his while Anti-Buster sneered down his cold nose at me. Even if my fate was to pass my training course after retaking it a few months from now, it was unlikely to change anybody's long-lasting perception of me. Most probably, if - IF - I were ever to pass, Anti-Elina would assign me to spread bad luck in a team of highly-qualified adults who would do the hard work on my behalf while dragging me along after them as nothing more useful than a deadweight decoration.

I wanted to throw up.

But, I managed to retain my dignity, if not my sense of sanity. The stone beneath my feet froze the bottoms of my toes. Even my tail quivered with unease. We had just turned a hidden rear corner of the corridor and slowed our pace at the top of a thin, spiral staircase cut from black stone and lined with torches all the way down. They glowed red at this time of morning, taking pleasure in snapping with sparks and shedding soot. The polished steps gleamed with warped reflections which upset my eyes. Not to mention my still-churning stomach.

The stairs would lead Mona and I undercloud to the lowest level of the Castle. Before many of us who presently resided in the Castle had been born - even before the Fairies imprisoned us in our own kingdom during the War of the Sunset Divide, in fact - the thirteen portals down there had opened into various locations of highly-concentrated magic across the 24 Planes of Existence known to the magical universe. Now? Cloudy and murky almost 365 days a year, Friday the 13th remained the one time our beloved anti-fairy's dozen of portals cleared up, and we were free to spread our wings throughout Earth and Fairy World alike. With few exceptions, such as my embarrassing older brother, no Anti-Fairy would waste this chance to spread our influence far across the cloudlands on this, our most hallowed day.

The staircase was old and narrow, but regardless, it had been sculpted of the glossiest black stone available with the intention of warding off any negative energy which might leak up from the basement level. As she took the first step, Mona ran her palm along the handrail.

"Isn't its architecture beyond beautiful?" she murmured.

I descended the slippery stairs after her in silence. We pups didn't stray near this area regularly, but we came often enough. While the staircase was lovely, I suppose, it hardly altered the truth that it was, in fact, an old and narrow staircase.

But Mona still found the simple sight enrapturing every time our play led us in this direction. Her gaze combed the obsidian walls with the fervour a mother sea turtle might show the sandbar of her birth after a long but crucial journey, her crimson eyes glimmering in a few of the shinier patches. Her claws clicked all the way down. Since most of the Castle's occupants had vacated for obvious reasons earlier today, the two of us were able to enjoy a moment of pleasant quiet on the steps. Accented, of course, by Mona's ceaseless humming.

"You know," I said, observing Mona's flicking ears from behind, "when my brother was my age, he always wanted to be chosen as an architect. But of course, you have to be incredibly in-tune with the energy field to be asked to train as one of those, and at the last moment, the acolytes he would have trained under at the Love Temple decided he didn't have quite what it takes. Perhaps it was the distinctive motor tic which leaks his sonar into his speech and prompts his constant and irritating stutter. Or perhaps it was another factor entirely, hmm?"

We continued gazing at the smooth black walls as we descended further into the Castle depths. "I couldn't be clever enough to keep that creative career," Mona sighed.

I shrugged. One of my feet skidded dangerously on the step, and I grabbed the handrail. "No, I suppose not. I don't see the appeal myself, frankly. As I understand it, being an architect is made out to be a more glamourous position than it actually is. Sure, I suppose you're a cut above the rest allowed special privileges to visit roughly wherever you like whenever you choose, including throughout Fairy World, and I admire the work they do for us to provide positive channels of karmic flow in the universe, and I suppose it might be nice to flit about with everyone heaping praise on your head, but…" I adjusted my bound wings against my back. "Being the centre of attention in front of enormous crowds of strangers isn't precisely my cup of tea, you know what I mean?"

"It's noble of their numbers," Mona said, sliding her hand away from the railing. The spiral of the staircase tightened.

"To become architects?"

"Isn't it?" Abruptly she turned, and I wobbled on the step above her. Mona bit her lip. The fur along her cheeks and down the back of her neck began to prickle up. Her wings tensed. "We'd waste away without their work. Architects are our everything. Safely structuring, speaking with spirits, sending strength-"

I held my hands defensively near my chest as she finished up. "You know I of course intended no disrespect, darling. Obviously I appreciate them. I only noted that I would hate to have to be one myself. Um. Your mum is an architect, isn't she?"

Mona hummed softly in response. I knew the answer was yes, or I wouldn't have asked the question. The tightness in her body eased. We both fell silent, quickening our pace until our wand sheaths slapped against our legs with every other step-

-and my sheath caught my leg below the knee. That, combined with the shiny, slippery stairs, sent me tripping straight into her. I yelped her name, only it did no good. Mona grabbed for the handrail and flared her wings. That slowed her descent, but I tumbled past regardless. At the base of the steps, I inadvertently bowled over Electro and Ashley, and we landed in a clump of bumps and bruises.

"You have arrived late," Electro grunted into my arm. He'd sustained a pale cut along his chin from where my flashing claws had scraped.

Even Ashley tossed me a miffed look as he disentangled himself from our puddle. "Y'know, you're pretty clumsy, Julius, and I'm starting to wonder if you were even born in a Water year at all."

"Sorry," I whispered back, clenching my teeth. Personally, I preferred to blame my general lack of balance on the useful tail so annoyingly stashed away within my pants. That, and my bound wings, of course.

When I tilted back my head and squeaked out a soft burst of sonar, I picked up the form of a very lean, very tall shape leaning over us. Behind her stood the other young Anti-Fairies awaiting to receive their assessment scores. And beyond them stretched a corridor lined with two dozen doors, each one concealing a swirling portal that would release us into Fairy World. I struggled to sit up, fumbling for Mona's hand as she hopped to the bottom of the stairs with more grace than I had.

"Oh, um… Top of the morning, Nana Anti-Ember."

Anti-Ember chuckled, leaning both hands and most of her weight on the squiggly staff of polished wood that she used as a cane. Her chuckle was lightly amused instead of harshly mocking, and I forced myself to smile in reply. Although she was easily the tallest Anti-Fairy I'd ever seen in my life, the staff stretched above her head, and a lantern dangled from the upper spiral. It gleamed with pale orange light, giving her blue fur an almost golden glow. She said, "Easy on the wingbeats and claw scuttles, little puppies. As excited as you are about your first Friday the 13th on the field, no one gets to the portals without a nick on their neck to prove they're allowed."

Electro scrambled up, pointing his claw back the way we had come. "But- but- We passed our test! Anti-Elina said she was sure of it!"

"No nick, no portal." Anti-Ember leaned a little closer, pressing her cheek against her staff. "Let me see. How do they proctor the assessments these days? Did you all answer your twenty-six written questions about how to properly twirl the lines of the energy field to hex a foe?"

We chorused in confirmation.

"And you showed off your umbrae-hunting skills as a team together in the training arena?"

"Yes, Nana Anti-Ember."

"Hmm…" Anti-Ember looked us over with a twinkle in her eye as she rubbed a knuckle along her lower lip. "Your words sound promising, but did anyone tell you about the secret test?"

We looked at each other. "What's the secret test, dame?" I asked.

She smiled in a mysterious sort of way, as though she knew the punchline to a hilarious knock-knock joke. "I assume you bright minds all managed to pass your field assessment with soaring colours, but does what comes naturally to your instincts make logical sense in your tiny little minds? Who can explain to me what an umbra is?"

My hand snapped into the air alongside Mona's, while Electro beat his back and forth and Ashley hopped up and down. "Umbrae are culminations of leftover energy from magic that was used for the purpose of harming a living thing," Electro burst, dropping his hand to his side with a sharp slap. "This negative energy forms a clump in the magical energy field we breathe from, and it shall wreak horrific misfortune if left unchecked. Since we Anti-Fairies are creatures of good luck, it is only natural that we should be drawn to seek out and neutralise them as the universe attempts to balance herself again. As with all living things, whether they recognise this or not, she makes an attempt to achieve homeostasis: the point of perfect internal equilibrium."

Anti-Ember nodded. "Your words were said very well, Electro. And how does an Anti-Fairy neutralise an umbra?"

With a lot more effort and energy than we're credited for, I thought.

This time, Mona leapt to answer the question. "Umbrae are mostly magical misfits, meaning they may not be murdered magically. The most we can make manifest is mainly mincing most into many mingling misfortune midgets."

"Basically, we Anti-Fairies have to disperse an umbra's concentrated power into smaller pockets of bad luck," Ashley summed up. "When we do it right, the bad karma that affects innocent bystanders isn't as harmful as it otherwise could have been."

Anti-Ember ruffled his dark blue hair. "Why, aren't you a smart bump upon a tall yule log? Now, who knows the abilities that Tarrow granted to Anti-Fairies when he released our ancestors - his trusted scouts and faithful warriors - into the universe to chase and recapture the umbrae long ago?"

Hesitantly, I lowered my hand and hid it behind my back. Anti-Ember swung her attention on me anyway. Her lantern flickered. One of her eyebrows twitched up.

"Julius? You haven't answered one of my questions yet. Why don't you take this one?"

"Um…" I studied my feet. "Well. Let's see."

The silence between us stretched a little too long for my comfort. I poked my foot into a crack in the stone floor.

"Oh, erm… When Tarrow first designed the Aos Sí eons ago, he intended for them to walk the world with strong physiques. Over time, the Aos Sí, um… evolved into the people we call the Seelie Court today, or Fairies. A-and in order to balance the Seelie out, they were granted the powers of intelligence and energy field manipulation. Fairies specialise in long-range magic. So, ah… We Anti-Fairies are shadows of our Seelie counterparts, which is why we are classified as members of the Unseelie Court. Most often, we are lighter and smaller than the Fairies are, and so the magic we specialise to balance us out is combat magic, to be used at close range."

I looked up, tightening my fingers and trying not to focus on the sweat I swore I felt there despite my fur. "As the, er, umbrae are immune to physical attacks and can only be dispersed with magic, o-our ancient ancestors were tasked to track down, engage, and neutralise the umbrae in combat whenever their herds migrated through this corner of the cosmos. An honoured tradition that our people still carry on today every Friday the 13th."

I curled my toes, waiting in pained silence until Anti-Ember's face cracked with an understanding smile. I let the air out of my puffed cheeks in a whoosh.

"Indeed, Julius. Fine answers, all of you." Her attention shifted over my head. She craned her neck. "And it would seem that the High Count and Countess have arrived at last to distribute the results of your assessment."

Thank Tarrow for it too. Any more time pinned beneath four solid gazes, and my head would pop, I swear.

The others, and me, all turned to see Anti-Elina strolling down the stairs, her arms bulging with around three dozen tight scrolls. Despite her load, she managed to reach up and adjust one of the coloured stones that dangled in front of her eyes from the points of her crown. Squinting through the stone, she sized us up as she finished whatever conversation she was having with Anti-Bryndin, who floated quietly behind her. We pups shuffled aside to make room for them. As they waded through us, Anti-Ember reached out and caught Anti-Bryndin by the back of his coat collar. He squeaked, jolting his wings.

"And where is my baby boy rushing to without giving his mum a nice kiss?" she demanded.

Anti-Bryndin leaned his head away. His fingers crawled up to his shoulder, tentatively feeling for a way to disentangle his mum's worn claws from his shirt. His ears flattened. His eyes darted away. "I, ah-"

Anti-Ember cut him short with a disappointed click of her tongue. "Although I never ask to be the object you focus the entirety of your attention on, a moment of respect for your former High Countess is something I would appreciate. You, I think, were very slow to get the other Anti-Fairies through the portals this morning. But, even as a puppy, you always did prefer snoozes until afternoon. He is a late rooster, you know," she added to me.

I watched Anti-Bryndin's ear twitch. Privately, I did not blame him. Augustus was a late rooster, and Mother insisted it was the reason he'd turned out as goody-goody as he had. Perhaps Anti-Ember had no business revealing such hidden facets of Anti-Bryndin's childhood to our young, innocent ears? I pondered whether she might actually enjoy embarrassing her son publically on purpose, simply to regain some of the old control she'd wielded back when she held Anti-Elina's position…

"… and I did ask one of those loitreing damsels you left behind to take your pants up to your room while you were in the bath, munchkin. Anti-Florensa, I think her name is?"

Yep. Certainly on purpose. The other pups giggled and nudged each other as Anti-Bryndin covered his face with one arm, and Anti-Elina pretended to be very absorbed in her scrolls. Anti-Ember scoffed. She used the bottom end of her staff to untuck his pale shirt from his belt and lift it away. With her other hand, she poked him in the stomach.

"I know the cooks in this castle do not feed you too much. I am thinking that at night, you have been sneaking treats. Your belly is showing. But, your way of dressing makes you very cute."

Anti-Bryndin yanked the hem of his shirt down again. "Mamá, I am High Count of all Anti-Fairies. I am not 'cute'. I am an impressive grown man."

"You are a young man who is very handsome," she assured him. A lazy smile pushed through the wrinkles along her cheeks. "When are you bringing me grandchildren?"

"The decision to make that happen is not mine," he mumbled.

Anti-Elina stepped between the two of them, clutching one scroll in her fist and three more against her chest. "If I may, Dame Anti-Ember? We have scores to announce and the morning isn't getting younger."

Anti-Ember inclined her head. With that, Anti-Elina split half her scrolls with Anti-Bryndin. She placed a scroll in Ashley's hand, then Benjamin's, then Christine's, then Cody's, then Darrell's, then Electro's, then Harriet's. Each pup tore his or her scroll open the moment it touched their palm, chattering excitedly and exchanging giggle-filled hugs. They gathered in clusters of four, flapping their papers before Anti-Ember's eyes. As our High Count and Countess continued passing out scrolls, I watched from the corner of my right eye as Anti-Ember examined each scroll one by one with a great deal of fascination and praise. Then, four by four, she waved each group towards a portal door and requested the leader of each team seek instructions from the older Anti-Fairies who had already gone on ahead.

Anti-Elina handed a scroll to Kayla without looking at me. I tilted one of my ears down. She had been going in alphabetical order. She skipped "Julius."

Not wanting to be impolite, I shrank into my wings and said nothing as Anti-Elina finished passing scrolls out to Lola, Lucas, and Mona. I recalled that she wasn't as good with names and faces as Anti-Bryndin. Perhaps that was it. My name balanced on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite recall it, and she would circle around to me in the end. Mona squeezed my hand. I squeezed hers back, though it didn't lighten the churning of my stomach.

"Are you coming or what, bignose?" Electro demanded, tapping his foot. Ashley stood beside him, rubbing uncertainly behind his neck. I flicked my gaze towards Anti-Bryndin in time to see him hand his last scroll out to Zachary, whose anxious face brightened like moonlight the moment he read his score. Even Zachary had passed? He could hardly tell a hex from a charm. What use was the training arena if even pups like him were waved through without a second thought?

Anti-Elina's fingers tightened around one final scroll in her hand. The thin ribbon which tied it shut was pale blue like the Water year, and I had no doubt that it was mine. I straightened my wings.

"Dame Anti-Ember," she said, placing a hand across her stomach and offering a light bow. "Anti-Bryndin and I have already discussed it, and with your permission, we'd like to have Julius run the training course again."

Mona's hand unlinked from mine. She shot me a questioning glance. My throat closed over. Regardless, after only two sharp seconds of pause, I managed to lean forward in a bow that mirrored Anti-Elina's. "Yes, High Countess. I understand. Next Friday the 13th, I will present myself for assessing again. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity you saw fit to grant me."

Anti-Elina snapped her gaze over to me. I heard a flutter of sonar pass over my body from ears to toes, and the expression that crossed her face made me wonder if she'd remembered I was there in the corridor at all. Without replying, she turned to Anti-Ember again and cleared her throat. "Send the rest of his team on ahead. We want him to run it immediately. Alone this time." So saying, Anti-Elina pulled open my scroll and showed Anti-Ember what it said. A distinctive startled, sparkling, pinging sort of sound went off in the magical energy field around us as the older anti-fairy looked it over.

"Of course, darling," Anti-Ember murmured. Her ears swivelled in my direction. I looked at Mona and Ashley. They both shrugged.

"Come along, Julius," Anti-Elina called, already drifting back for the stairs. I hiked the belt of my wand sheath up higher and chased after her, clutching the hem of my robes.

"Esteemed High Countess?" I asked, straining my neck to look up at her. "May I ask to see the results on my scroll?"

"You may not." She clicked her teeth in a long, low chirp. "Are you coming along, rose thicket?"

Anti-Bryndin pricked his ears and tailed us up the stairs. I searched his face from below for any hint of comfort, but between my pounding blood and scrambling footsteps, the only sound I heard from him was silence.

The training arena lay across the courtyard, on the other side of the observatory. The grass and gravel had been trampled by centuries of feet, right up to its shiny door. Anti-Praxis sat outside in the grey dirt and smoke, chatting with another figure who hovered in front of him. I slowed my footsteps and tipped my head. Just to be sure, I chirped out another wave of sonar as I followed behind Anti-Elina and Anti-Bryndin.

The image that bounced back didn't make sense. The wings… the way the newcomer's wings beat at his back wasn't natural. Rather than flick and swirl, he swept his wings up and then angled them backward when they came down. And he had four of them. Four long, wispy wings with rounded tips.

A… fairy?

I'd never seen a fairy in real life before. He was an odd sort- he didn't even have fur. The man dressed in long white sleeves and a raspberry red vest, with his hair short, black, and slightly curly beneath the ears. A much younger damsel, only as old as Augustus - if that - stood off to the side with her hands tucked away in the pockets of her purple shirt. She tilted her head to mimic mine.

The older fairy sensed my approach and turned around. I flinched behind Anti-Elina's legs. The fairy noticed me anyway. His wings stilled. His shoes (He wore shoes) brushed the dirt.

"Esteemed High Count," he greeted, spreading all four of his wings as he bowed. "Esteemed High Countess. I'm the therapist from Wish Fixers you sent for. My daughter Emery is also with me."

The fairy damsel bowed too, though she left her hands in her pockets. Anti-Bryndin bobbed his head in reply, while I shot a glance up at Anti-Elina. What was this about?

She placed her hand on the back of my neck, maintaining eye contact with the newcomer instead of me. His blue eyes swivelled to face me, shielded by two tiny circles of glass embedded on sticks. "Julius Anti-Lunifly, I presume?"

I said nothing.

"He's shy," Anti-Elina explained, taking my arm. She pulled me out from behind her.

The fairy's face changed as he appraised me in full. I attempted to give him a closer look without being quite so obvious about it. I thought him rather small for a fairy, for I had heard a hundred stories over my lifetime describing the size and power of the muscle-headed brutes. They were the ones who didn't need combat magic, after all. Sure, this therapist fellow stood taller than both Anti-Bryndin and Anti-Elina when none of them were floating, but the man didn't look as though he could go toe to toe with a chupacabra if his shiny golden crown depended on it.

"My name is Ambrosine Whimsifinado," the fairy greeted me. He lowered his upturned hands to meet mine, never sinking so low that it felt like he had to crouch. I thought that was interesting, that he upturned his hands despite being Seelie, but I found myself enormously grateful for the familiarity. Looking back on it now, I'm not sure how I would have acted if he had held out his left hand for a shake as the Fairies typically do. I wouldn't have known what to do with it. When I placed my hands in his, he continued by saying, "I was asked in from Fairy World so I might observe your training assessment."

I recognised the Whimsifinado name instantly. While most of the Fairy nobility had contributed directly to the War of the Sunset Divide itself, providing clean food, water, clothing, and energy and the like to their precious foot soldiers, the Whimsifinados had strolled onto the field after tea time with King Cardinal and Queen Shoulath one day and struck the deciding blow. Their family had been the ones to pay for nearly three-quarters of the Barrier singlehanded. Ever since, we Anti-Fairies had been banished beneath the red skies of Hy-Brasil with our grand Bridges between the cloudlands and Earth destroyed, and our portals sealed shut. If not Ambrosine himself, then surely his parents must have done it. Mere pocket change for their bloodline, I suppose. My claws tightened around his fingers.

"Julius?"

"What?" My cheeks began to cool with embarrassment. Had I zoned out?

Ambrosine withdrew his hands and offered me a pat on the left shoulder and a knowing smile. "Don't be nervous. You've done nothing wrong, and I'm not here to judge you on how well you do in there. Just step inside and do whatever comes naturally."

My blood quickened in my veins. Don't be nervous? He wasn't here to judge me? Sure. That's why the High Count and Countess had hauled him all the way out here. To watch without judgement. At least I'd be good for a laugh.

"Y-yeah." I coughed into my hand, then started over again. "Yes, sir."

"It's fine," said Anti-Bryndin, half distracted by an orange snake passing by his foot. "You are fine."

"I'll go over the rules again," Anti-Elina decided. She clicked a dial on the arena door, changing the difficulty level of the simulation inside from advanced to somewhere above greenhorn. My ears quivered as assorted noises beeped and tweeted from within, powering up displays and adjusting aspects of the room. "Inside the arena, you will have one minute and thirteen seconds to examine your surroundings before the first quiver in the energy field is manipulated. You will face three umbrae in a row. Each one will manifest only once the other is properly neutralised, assuming that it is. Any technique used to dispose of them is fair game, though you are encouraged to be dignified."

I nodded, slowly. Anti-Elina nodded back. The glinting coloured rocks hanging in front of her eyes made it difficult to read her precise expression.

"Can I ask something?" Emery asked out of nowhere. We all looked at her, but to my surprise, she didn't shrivel away beneath our gazes. Instead, she looked between the faces of every adult. Her hands moved to her hips. "What exactly is an umbra? What do they do?"

Anti-Bryndin flicked one of his ears. "Grow big. Cause trouble. Eat much. Leave droppings."

Anti-Elina folded her arms. "Young Emery, do you know what happens when a Fairy uses magic?"

Emery blinked. "Uh… Energy from the magical energy field is turned into something else, like a wind current, or maybe a toy that you just wished up."

"And?"

"And…" Emery had to think hard for a moment before she came up with a satisfactory answer. "Oh! When we poof something up, it makes a big cloud of dust. That dust gets everywhere, and it fertilises the cloud vapour and grows grass or weeds and things."

Anti-Elina nodded, slowly. "When the magic is benign, yes. Precisely. However, magic used for a malevolent purpose doesn't create your pleasant wind currents or fertilise your plants. Instead, that leftover magic forms itself into an umbra. Nasty creatures of all shapes and sizes who feed on luck of all varieties, stealing good luck from those in need and dumping bad luck on those in poor circumstances. They prey on Anti-Fairies especially, which is why we teach our children how to defend against them from the time they are young. Unfortunately for us, umbrae do not seem to have much interest in chasing after Fairies. Something that has proved to be very inconvenient for Anti-Fairies during times of war." She looked directly at Ambrosine when she said it. Wisely, he did not respond.

"So, Anti-Fairies don't really cause bad luck, and it's just these umbra guys?"

"Now, Julius," said Anti-Elina, brushing past the question. "While it is preferable that you neutralise the umbrae as quickly as possible, you are not being officially graded on your speed, and the time taken to complete the simulation will not be held against you. Don't concern yourself about any damage inflicted on the room. The entire arena is enchanted and will reset itself once you leave the premises. Note, however, that it will not reset itself between umbrae. Plan accordingly. We will be observing you on this side. If you wish to end the assessment early, just shout for us. Are there any questions?"

"Um…" I licked my lips. "I-I'm running the entire simulation by myself this time, High Countess? Without Mona, Electro, and Ashley?"

"That is correct. Also, while not required, it may prove helpful for you to narrate your thoughts, to provide the most accurate assessment results. And of course, most importantly, don't swallow the umbrae." Anti-Elina pulled open the door, and a puff of white steam drifted out from the insides. I blinked at the warmth, and she motioned for me to step inside. I drew my wand and did as instructed.

Despite Anti-Elina's reassurance that I was merely repeating the training simulation I had undertaken earlier with the rest of my team, instead of stepping knee-deep into snow, I found myself stepping onto a thick, hairy white rug. Beneath it lay a floor of wooden planks. My eyes trailed over to the nearest wall. Navy blue wallpaper. Silver trim.

I'd never visited this bizarre room before, nor seen anything quite like it. It was some type of throne room, I imagine, for seven high-backed chairs with cushioned seats stood around me in a semicircle with their backs against the wall, and a coloured banner hung behind each chair. Each of the seven elements on our zodiac had been represented, even if it was merely in that small way. My fingers tightened around my wand. I studied my surroundings, sending out soft bursts of sonar, and I listened.

The magic flow throughout the room was distinctly off balance.

Deliberately, too. That much was so clear, a fairy could have picked up on it. I was supposed to take on umbrae in here? The room was small, only a dozen wingspans in diameter. Most importantly, it had been heavily decorated with elements intended to channel Sky energy, such as the oval rug on the floor, the wide urns filled with a substrate of cloudfluff instead of pebbles or peat, and the high ceiling that lacked any visible rafters to cling to. Doubtless, the fat pots which held tall bamboo, beanstalks, or other leafless plants had been sculpted from cloudland vapour instead of soil. Instead of ugly wall torches, whoever decorated this room chose to light it with uncovered candles - candelabras, really - that balanced and burned from most of the available desks and tables that were for whatever reason present in the strange room. The chairs all pointed towards the door where I stood instead of each other or another aspect of the room, creating the open-minded environment typically found in the Sky design style. To counteract the overwhelming unbalance in the room, the first umbra to manifest here would be bursting with Fire energy.

I wasn't the least bit surprised. This was the Summer of the Blistered Hog; a Fire year. Fire magic was full of passion and strength, and a fire umbra would be especially difficult to counter in a year when its element pumped through the energy field at an extreme high.

One of my ears rotated to one side. After a few seconds, the other mirrored it. Then I pricked them both forward. Softly, I inhaled through my nose, and released the air again. Facing a Fire umbra in a Fire year would place me at a distinct disadvantage. As I did not want to be cornered into that predicament, I would just have to make a few minor changes to the room. And quickly, too. My minute and thirteen seconds of adjustment time were rapidly ticking away.

What were my options? Well. Bad luck released into a perfectly balanced room would manifest a Love umbra. Not a particularly desirable opponent, and especially on a Friday, and especially on a Friday the 13th when Dayfry's influence on the energy field burst at the seams almost as much as Saturn's did. Shifting a Sky room into Water wouldn't take all that much effort, since they were both blue and all, but then the umbra which manifested first would be Soil.

But, Soil umbrae tended to be massive forces of brute strength which charged blindly while you frantically attempted to pierce their thick, armoured hide to no avail. Soil umbrae were meant to be confronted outdoors, beside rivers and lakes or in snowy forests, where you were less likely to be accused of causing property damage. You didn't fight Soil umbrae in small rooms full of elegant, fragile objects.

Anyway, a Soil umbrae in a Water room would be balanced in it, whereas I, a Water, was likely to become clumsy and overwhelmed. What else? Breath energy went hand in hand with communication and thoughtfulness, neither of which would be particularly of use to me were I to face a Leaves umbra in a Breath room…

Decisions, decisions. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed the top of my head with the claws on both hands, messing up my ever-scruffy hair. Ugh. Why did magic have to be such a convoluted thing, even in modern times? Weren't we supposed to have wands to do everything for us? Perhaps I wouldn't have much enjoyed the olden days of potions and incantations after all.

I lowered my hands and sighed towards the ceiling. I was certain nearly half the time I had before the first umbra showed had already drained away. Unable to make a confident decision as to which type of umbra I would best match up against, I decided to randomly select an element that my team and I hadn't already faced during our training assessment earlier that morning: Breath.

In general, Breath was an element on the zodiac intended to strengthen one's intelligence rather than their physical strength, so logically, a Breath umbra would embody brains over brawn in a similar fashion. The room wasn't that big, so I wasn't likely to lose track of it as I might were I facing it in the snowy forest from earlier today.

An umbra would manifest with Breath energy in a room skewed towards Leaves energy. So of course, the first thing I did was twirl my wand and change the bamboo and vines in their large urns into enormous spidery houseplants with thin, curling leaves that dangled down towards the floor. A faint shift in the energy field confirmed I had been successful. I now stood in a room that mainly channelled Sky energy with a slight tug towards Leaves. I had to keep going.

Next, I walked straight over to the big, circular glass coffee table on my left and studied the puzzle that had been laid out there. Not only was it completed, but it showed a white bird soaring across the open ocean. An albatross, sacred animal of Munn, the nature spirit of Sky? Undoubtedly.

I removed a single piece from somewhere in the middle and carefully placed it near the upper left corner of the puzzle. That's where the Leaves symbol fell on every image of the circular zodiac I'd ever seen. The candles next. "Duck and hide, it's cold outside," I muttered, and glass bell jars appeared to cover all but the candles' bottoms, preventing the fire from pointing upwards towards the ceiling. Then I kicked the rug so the enormous circle folded in on itself in a semicircle. Hmm. What else?

My eyes slid over to the seven chairs staring stoically at the door, and the seven banners on the wall behind them. Of course. With a flick of my wand as I hurried over, I turned four of the chairs in on each other, and matched the remaining three up as well. Had all the chairs faced each other, that would have created an environment which encouraged much communication, perfect for Breath energy. Having two separate groups of seats broke the chain and diverted that energy into Leaves instead. As the final chair slid itself into place, I jumped, sprang off its seat, and shredded the Sky banner in two with a single swipe of my claws.

With the banner damaged, the Sky energy in the room began fading faster. No longer able to properly balance its opposite, Fire, the latter energy crashed into the room with full force. But as it flowed in, it was met with resistance. Gentle Leaves energy had already made this place its home. I closed my eyes and let them sing together.

Adding rafters to the room, changing the colour of the walls from navy to green, or turning the coffee table from glass to wood lay outside the scope of my young abilities for now. This would have to do. My time was up. I knew that when a large cardboard cutout of a black cat materialised from a thin slit in the wall and streaked across the floor. Clumps of black fur had been taped to its back, and I could sense the animal attracting negative energy like static as it raced along its path to another slit on the other side of the arena.

I picked up the sound of gears grinding above the ceiling. Umbrae manifested naturally in nature when summoned from the darker corners of the universe, but for the purposes of this cardboard simulation, a previously captured and bred umbra would have to do. From my place between the backs of two chairs, I steadied my wand. A hatch opened above the coffee table, and a writhing mass of energy dropped down. Invisible to my naked eyes, I could pick it up only from my sonar and the squealing sound of panic it emitted into the energy field.

It was a Breath umbra, all right. I tested its shape as it turned circles and zig-zagged from one end of the table to the other. Each picture that flew back to my brain with echolocation showed it crouching low and small. With its tall ears and stunted tail, it looked like a rabbit with tentacles instead of legs.

I continued to point my wand at it, watching its movements with my ears. The umbra nosed its way along the coffee table and jumped down to the floor. I adjusted my wand to continue pointing at it. Unconcerned, it paused, twitched its ears, then used its tentacles to pull itself over to the place where the black cat had been. It began to gnaw at the metaphysical trail of energy that the cardboard cutout had left behind. I waited for it to do something threatening.

A long thirty seconds passed. The umbra continued to munch contentedly on the energy in the air. I could hear the crackle of electricity quite clearly, and as I blinked and squinted, I could make out some sort of… ripple there, as though the creature were gradually becoming...

Solid? Could umbrae do that if you left them alone long enough?

I threw a glance towards the entrance of the arena. I knew my observers could see me, but I wished I could see them. My fur prickled toasty hot inside my clothes. What were they saying about me? Would Anti-Elina be embarrassed by my slowness? Would Anti-Bryndin be angry?

But I…

It wasn't being at all aggressive yet, I mean…

I lowered my wand. Instead, I stepped out from behind the chairs and lowered myself into a crouch. "Don't be frightened, little fellow," I murmured. Keeping my fist around my wand, I crawled a little closer to the gentle umbra. It was definitely becoming more solid the more energy it ate- I could see its blurry outline without my sonar, which was fortunate since I intended to speak while crawling over, and you couldn't very well manage both at once. I sighed. "Poor little bugger. You aren't wild like the others, are you? They bred you and tamed you, and you're just as soft and sweet as a marshma-"

The umbra whirled on my outstretched hand. I fell back, banging my elbow on the coffee table's edge. My vision went hazy for a split second there. Did the scoundrel just bite me? It tried to bite me! Had it bitten me? Their bites were said to transfer karma directly, and I couldn't afford to be inflicted with a plague of bad luck right now. I tried to glance down at my fingertips, but the umbra interrupted by hurling itself into my lap with a ferocious squeal. Its big front teeth closed over my shirt. So much for camouflage.

I thrashed hard enough to knock the creature away, then kicked it across the room. It rolled towards a nearby desk. I muttered an old incantation under my breath. Before the umbra could stand, I plunged my wand forward in the air, twisted it sideways, and yanked back. The umbra flew towards me as though hooked on a chain. I caught it in my fist and squeezed its neck as it screamed. Tentacles coiled around my hand. Unable to flee, the umbra turned its pleading gaze upward. Even though it was still invisible, I could tell that much.

I hesitated, then averted my eyes. "Don't look at me like that."

Still clutching the animal in my fist, I flipped my wand around in my free hand so the end with the star cap pointed towards me. Then I pressed a switch halfway down the handle. A two-inch knife folded out from the side. The blade was a little dull, worn down by use from past owners and from bored nights spent rubbing it against branches and stone floors. But, it did its job. When I sliced the knife across the umbra's neck, it burst into invisible sparkles I preferred to think of as confetti. One down, two to go.

Before the next umbra appeared, I guided my wand through what remained of the first one. The energy field was tangled now, tensed into knots. I pried the metaphysical threads loose with my wand and shook them out. The released energy had to go somewhere, so I channelled it into the wooden desk. One of its legs creaked, then gave out beneath it. Flickers of magic in the air warned me the room was bordering on Sky energy again.

The second umbra seemed to be a lizard. Its head looked porcine, but I didn't get a good read on it before it darted across the floor. As I searched for it with ping after ping of sonar, the umbra leapt onto the table. It knocked the entire albatross puzzle to the ground with a sweep of its spiraled tail. The puzzle burst pieces in all directions, scattering the Leaves energy I'd set up there, and my eyes flew wide. "Wait!"

No time for that now. The umbra appeared to be a lot of things, but "friendly" wasn't one of them. I lashed my wand, releasing a miniature whirlwind that spun the reptile to the ground. Following this, I fooped a floating boot into existence and, twisting my wand, kicked the lizard-pig from afar in its bottom end. It shrieked the sound of wedding bells. The cold noise jarred my fangs to the roots. Holding up the hems of my robes, I ran towards it, shooting globs of water from the end of my wand. It scrambled away, racing through the tube-like passageway made by the folded rug. I tripped on the end and went sprawling. The rug unrolled- taking me with it. Yelping, I flopped on my back with the carpet's tough underside on top of me.

"Get back here, you repulsive rascal!"

I crawled out from beneath the rug and aimed a wild fireball at the umbra, who had scurried towards the corner. The flame careened past the lizard-pig, clipped its horns, and sent it face-planting into the floor. The umbra wailed. The fireball hit the wall and died out in a burst of sparks. Shoving myself up to my feet, claws catching on my robes, I ran over and aimed my wand at the frightened little thing. It curled into a ball, defending its face with the measly spikes on its back and tail. At the sight of its cowering before me - me! - my shoulders relaxed. I held the power here. I couldn't resist just a soft chuckle.

"Final words?" I demanded, grinning at my own joke.

The lizard-pig chirped and whined in the back of its throat, hunkering deeper into the corner. I pointed my wand and muttered the incantation for a hefty blast. However, instead of firing, my solid wand turned goopy in my hand. It drooped like a stalk of celery.

"Oh, not now." I slapped the back of my wand with the heel of my hand. A blue spark flew out the tip. "Come on, you worthless piece of… Never mind."

I finished the thing off with my knife instead. After casting the negative energy into the nearest potted spider plant and causing the urn to crack and spill substrate to the floor, I sat back on my heels to wipe my brow. "Good smoke, I daresay I could use a spot of tea before too long."

Midway through standing, I froze. Both my ears swivelled backwards in opposite directions. The third umbra had already formed behind me. And all the Sky energy swirling in the air around me meant it would have manifested as a…

"Fire."

My hand shook. I pressed it against my knee. A Fire umbra in a Fire year, in an enclosed space. Drat it all. Speed? Bordering on the higher end. Defences? Low if I was, well, lucky. Attacking strength? Undoubtedly off the charts.

I turned, still crouched, clenching my wand with the knife end bared. Between me and the coffee table stood a lithe, furry… thing. Its sloped snout and dorsal fin suggested it could be a shark, although the four powerful legs argued otherwise. It waved its long tail low over the floor, searching the room with eyes like little beads. Or so I assumed. It was, after all, still invisible, and my sonar couldn't get a read on everything. My jaw slackened momentarily, then flew up into a great big grin.

"Oh, my! Well now, aren't you a rightful beauty? Just look at that coat and the quirk in your tail." I chuckled and flipped my wand at the brute, standing fully now. "You know, I don't say this to just any umbra, but you are simply gorgeous. Oh, yes you are."

The umbra pulled itself into a crouch as it backed away. It arched its back and bore its teeth. The growl it made was on par with the shriek of an unsuspecting creature who'd just stubbed his toe against a brick wall. My ears picked up the ripple of furry muscles and the unsheathing of retractable claws.

I swallowed my apprehension. Slowly, I pointed my wand at the ground behind me. "Easy does it. There, there… It's quite all right. I shan't hurt you in cold blood like this." I eased a step forward, stretching my hand towards the umbra's forehead. It flinched away, snarling again. The tail lashed, passing straight through the coffee table and reforming again as it came out the other side. I raised my eyebrow. "Steady now. Soft… gentle… I shan't hurt you, see?"

The umbra lunged forward, snapping its jaws around my arm. Sadly, I had fully anticipated this reaction, and was prepared. I fooped myself several paces backward. Just as the smoke left over from my magic began to clear, I picked up a large shape barrelling towards me. I ducked to the left, pressing my back against the wall, as the umbra skidded straight through the place where I had stood. Its teeth crashed together again as though grabbing me between them. Talons skidded across the wooden floor, threatening to gouge it. The shark-leopard creature swung its head rapidly back and forth, shaking something imaginary between its jaws. I gulped a second time.

"I hate to do this to a beast so enrapturing, you know," I said, readying my wand. The tip flared electric blue and crackled with lightning at my fingertips. "But sadly, I must say to you, adieu."

The umbra realised that it had missed me and looked up. When it opened its mouth to roar, I flung out my arm and shouted, "Hold nothing back and never will I fall!"

Crack, went the wand in my hand. A beam of hot indigo energy exploded from the tip. The sheer force of the magic flung me down, but I managed to catch sight of the umbra staggering once, twice, before tipping over on its side. Snatching up my fallen wand, I raced over and delivered another blow to the animal's soft underbelly. I couldn't miss-

… I missed.

The umbra swung its tail in my direction, flipping my feet out from under me. My chin smacked the coffee table. Just as I was standing again, the umbra stood and whipped in a circle. Its tail caught me on the second pass too, slashing too near my neck for comfort. The fur wasn't nearly as soft as I'd anticipated, but bristling with scales. I swore it sliced open my cheek.

Diving away as the umbra turned, I rolled to my feet with wand in hand. My eyes darted from the table to the chairs to the plants and desks around us. What was there to use? Was there anything to use?

In a fluid movement, the umbra slid into a crouch and launched itself at the nearest wall. I whipped my head to follow it, throwing out a burst of sonar. It rebounded with feline grace and fell towards me, claws outstretched. I moved to fling up some sort of shield, but I couldn't remember the incantation and my focus was shaking so much-

The umbra passed harmlessly through me and landed on the floor. I blinked at nothingness, still clutching my wand.

"What?"

I touched my chest, searching for any kind of mark. My fingers came away dry. I wasn't even bleeding. Behind me, the umbra snarled, ready for another go.

"The camouflage," I murmured. "It's enchanted so I don't get hurt."

I stared a brief second at the wall, unsure how I felt about that. It… This was only a training course, but if I wore clothing that prevented me from being seriously injured, I felt almost as though I were…

… cheating.

I turned around as the umbra flew at me again, likewise passing through my being without leaving a scratch. That was hardly fun, now was it?

I took my wand and flung a few random blasts at the umbra to throw it back. It struggled up a few times, glowering at me, but I kept up the attacks regardless of the flashing teeth and claws. When I had a clear shot for my knife, I brought it down with a few sharp swipes. The blade found a chink behind the shark-leopard's neck, and the umbra burst.

I wiped my face with the back of my wrist again, then went about directing the floating bad luck in the room into assorted objects that would keep it grounded. First a pillow that received a tear, then a flower vase that cracked and began to leak, and finally the fallen puzzle, which gradually began to warp from moisture in the air so the pieces didn't fit together quite right.

Well, that was the last of them. After sheathing my wand, I dusted off my hands and left the arena through the door. Anti-Praxis, Anti-Bryndin, Anti-Elina, and Ambrosine stood in a line, watching me with assorted expressions of uncertainty. I slowed my pace, but didn't have time to dwell on it for long. Emery balled her hands into fists.

"That is incredible! How do you fight monsters that are invisible, huh? How do you do that?"

I blinked. "Um…"

Ambrosine placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie, remember that they are Anti-Fairies. With their ears, they can hear even farther than we Fairies can magically sense."

Emery nodded enthusiastically, but focused her attention on me again. "That was nifty. You looked like a knight in camouflage armour."

Even though she was a fairy, and not even one I knew well, her praise quietly warmed my insides. I shrugged and ran my claws through the back of my hair, where it was starting to grow long enough to tangle. "Well, in all fairness, I only make it look easy because I know exactly what I'm doing. And, Anti-Elina only had the arena set to easy mode."

Still, Emery bumped my shoulder with her wing. "Don't be modest. That looked like fun! And also really hard, but you did great. You were dazzling."

"Was I now?" I considered her words. Perhaps a little bit of bragging was well deserved. My lips quirked up in a half-smile at one corner. I straightened my wings. "Yes, I suppose I did do a fine job there at the end, didn't I?"

Ambrosine glanced at Anti-Elina and, once she had waved her hand to signal permission, extended his arm towards me. "May I examine your wand, Julius?"

With only a gram of hesitation, I handed it over. My training wand was a simple thing- an old hand-me-down a bit chipped and worn from decades, if not centuries, of use. But, it served its purpose, and apart from a few incidents, I found that it worked rather well when I wanted it to.

"Hmm…" Ambrosine rubbed his thumb along the star cap, though he didn't untwist it from the shaft. I watched his forehead crease. The tip of his tongue poked out between his lips, but after a moment, he pulled it in again. He returned the wand to me, and shook his head at Anti-Elina. She raised one eyebrow, and motioned to it with a finger.

"So it's not…?"

"It's just a standard piece."

"I thought as much. Curious. Julius, please wait over here with Fairy-Emery while we calculate the results."

I bowed, feeling the insides of my stomach pinch together. "Of course, High Countess."

Anti-Bryndin and Anti-Elina trailed across the courtyard, with Ambrosine following them, and Anti-Praxis following behind him. With a grunt, I plopped down on a stone jutting from the ground and stuck my fists on my cheeks. Whatever the results of this assessment were, judging from the reactions of the adults, I didn't expect them to come back terribly pretty.

I wondered what Mona was doing right about now. She must be out in Fairy World someplace, bouncing about with Electro being snide and bossy in front of her and Ashley being an annoying worrywort behind. Or perhaps down on Earth, for the first time experiencing the wonders of its weather and beaches in a way I'd privately longed to since my younger days. I hoped they were treating her well, wherever they were. I hoped they weren't talking about me.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Emery asked, perching her elbows on the rock beside me. She didn't stop beating her wings, choosing instead to float in place despite that being, as I saw it, an incredible waste of essential energy.

I scowled in reply, furrowing my brow. "I haven't the foggiest. You must remember, we anticipate eavesdroppers in Anti-Fairy World. They've moved far enough away so I can't even hear their whispers." For another moment, I stared sulkily in the general direction of the four adults. Then I turned to Emery. "What do they look like?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

"You Fairies can see hand gestures and facial expressions from afar, can't you? All I see are vague blobby forms, and I can hardly tell which one is who. What are they doing?"

"Well…" Emery leaned forward. "Anti-Bryndin looks really upset about something."

"Really now?" I rubbed my chin.

"Yep. His hands are folded behind his head, and I can see his mouth running at a cloudlength a second."

I frowned. "What does that mean? Folding hands behind his head? Is that a sign for of surrender, or to show he has no weapons on him or something?"

"It means he's annoyed about something," Emery explained. "You know, like… body language. My dad's teaching me how to read body language for when I grow up to study psychology and be a therapist like him."

I stared across the courtyard, trying to sort out the results of my echolocation. "What's Anti-Elina doing, then?"

Emery was quiet for a moment, tapping a soft rhythm out on the rock with her fingers. "I dunno. She seems excited, but also mad."

"What, two emotions at the same time?"

"She's excited, but… I think she's mad because Anti-Bryndin's mad. She wants something to happen, and she wants everyone else to agree with her, but he keeps telling her no, and I guess explaining all the reasons why not."

"Huh."

For a moment more we stayed that way, our chins perched on our fists as we both watched the distant figures in our individual ways. After several minutes of this, Emery looked at me again, and made claws with her hands. "Hey, I should tell my dad to tell those Anti-Fairies to let me do that thing you were doing."

"What?"

"That training arena stuff. You guys shoulda tested me in there. I'll bet I could track the umbrae with my Fairy senses. I can sense things I can't see too, you know."

"No!" I grabbed her wrist and twisted it down. When Emery jerked back, her mouth pressed into an 'O' of surprise, I forced her to hold my stare. "Anti-Elina says umbrae are most certainly not pets, nor playthings, nor tame creatures by any stretch of the imagination. Fairies may not normally be on their diet, but if you were to go up against them in there, they would target you, and you aren't trained to fight them like we are. They. Would. Kill. You. You and anyone else who distracts them from their business. Have you got that?"

Emery swallowed. "Got it."

I stared at her, willing her to understand. Umbrae were dangerous, after all. Or at least, that's what everyone always told me.

More silence. Emery cocked her head. "Hey. Is it true what the Alien merchants say, that anti-fairy tongues are good luck?"

"Tongues?" I wrinkled my nose. "I say. Every part of an anti-fairy is lucky in its way."

She frowned. "Oh. But if you guys are good luck, then… Why'd the Fairies lock you guys up in Anti-Fairy World after the war?"

My eye twitched of its own accord. I grit my fangs. "Because, the Fairies don't understand the basic principle of Zodii teachings. My people are not jinxes. We're simply Fairykind, just like yours. There's nothing wrong with that."

Emery puffed her chest with self-importance. "That's not what my dad says. My dad says Anti-Fairies are nothing but trouble."

My ears folded back. "Well, I don't know if-"

"He says you guys invented a bunch of math that makes it look like you're good luck, but anyone can twist things around to make excuses for their actions if they try hard enough."

I slapped myself in the forehead. Leave it to a fairy to butcher our reputations that way. "Oh, for Rhoswen's sake. It's like this. Mm-mm. A long, long time ago, the entirety of the universe was running smoothly, and that's how the trouble all started. You see, the nature spirits controlled hundreds of planets in hundreds of galaxies, but none of the races who lived on them could utilise these planets to their full potential. The nature spirits hated to see their beautiful creations waste away. So, Tarrow turned his attention on some creatures called the Aos Sí. With their tough skins, thin pelts, six arms to fight with, and six eyes to watch for danger, they were advised to colonise the universe, aided by a very powerful magic called core magic. And for many years, the Aos Sí colonised every planet they could find."

"Elphame," Emery murmured.

"What?"

She started, her wings flicking up. "Nothing. Just, Elphame. It was the Old Kingdom, ruled over by Queen Ercel and King Christsonday a long time ago, before the Fairy World colony was founded. It's nothing."

Those names were not familiar to me. I eyed her as I said, "But, the more the Aos Sí bred with each other, the more magic was lost through the generations. In the end, they evolved into the creature which we know today as the Seelie Court, or Fairies. These Fairies now utilise a power known as starpiece magic, because it requires some sort of medium, like one of our star-capped wands, in order to function properly. Although even then, starpiece magic isn't anywhere near the abilities the Aos Sí were able to wield barehanded."

"No, that's not how my dad says it happened," Emery interrupted. I jolted and glared at her, and she crossed her arms at me. "My dad says the Aos Sí were beings that were Fairy, Anti-Fairy, and Fairy Refracts combined into one creature. When an Aos Sí was close to dying and panicked, they separated into three creatures: a Fairy, an Anti-Fairy, and a Refract. Then the three parts would escape."

"They… separated. A solid, living creature separated into three smaller creatures. Really?"

"Yeah. It's magic. And when we and our Anti-Fairy and Refract counterparts die, we'll become one creature in the afterlife again. It's called the Daoine form. My dad says so, and he knows everything."

I tried to decide where to start with that one. After a brief ten seconds of thought, I stated, "Rubbish. Over the ages, the Aos Sí evolved into Fairies in a natural manner. We bat-like Anti-Fairies are separate entities from you, and so are the bird-like Refracted. May I finish what I was trying to tell you?"

Emery looked as though she wanted to argue with me, but she buttoned her lip and made herself more comfortable in the thin grass instead. She didn't unfold her arms.

"Now, as the Aos Sí lost their magic across generations, that leftover magic formed itself into constructs of smoke and shadow. These were called the Unseelie Court, and like shadows, they took on vague likenesses of the very beings they would have belonged to otherwise, being literal embodiments of magic and all."

I smiled at the memory of the stories I'd been read while lying in my crib, or roosting from my perch beside Mona over the course of this last year and a half. "Oh, yes. In those ancient times, my people were wild faefolk. Some took on feline forms and took to defending your ancestors' fields from small pests. Some became canines, praised as protectors of the herds. Always we acted as spirit guides to our chosen member of your race, which earned us the nickname Guardian counterparts. Alongside our Seelie hosts, we multiplied."

I hadn't realised that I'd closed my eyes while speaking, but suddenly I opened them again, and looked over at Emery. "Say, don't you Fairies change forms you shapeshift into more often than a von Strangle changes socks?"

Something about my tone must have caused her some embarrassment, for the energy field tweaked around us. Instead of unconsciously releasing constant, bored, "whistling wind through the honeywheat fields" sounds into the energy field, Emery suddenly began to emit quicker beating taps like rain upon the rooftops. She fidgeted her wings. "Uh… Changing shape to match your mood is one way, um, other Fairies communicate sometimes, but my family doesn't believe in pointless shapeshifting. My dad says we're only supposed to shapeshift for a useful purpose. The cost of magic has been going up lately, and my dad says that Whimsifinados don't waste."

That's how they made their fortune, I suppose.

"Hmm." I flicked a dismissive ear. "Well, as I understand it, Fairies think themselves the masters of every form they choose to take on, whether it be vegetable, animal, or mineral. In Anti-Fairy culture, we are asked to honour our ancestors. As they took the forms of guardian spirits long ago, so we do today, by choosing merely one animal form to master every last detail of. My mother, not my father, passed along her surname: Anti-Lunifly. So, you see, it is expected that the one form I learn to take is that of the animal honoured by the Anti-Lunifly line. Which, of course, is the fox. Since the dawn of surnames, all my Anti-Lunifly ancestors have turned into foxes, and so shall I."

Emery studied me with vague interest. "So, you're really, really good at shapeshifting into foxes then, huh?"

I paused. My eyes flickered over to the adults still across the courtyard, then back to Emery again. "Um. Well, not yet, no… See, my Zodii education and Friday the 13th training came first. I won't be able to shapeshift until I'm older."

"Oh. That's too bad. I can do a dragonfly, a frog, a rabbit, a chickadee, a small cat, a big cat, a small dog, a big dog, a kelpie, a porcupine, a butterfly, another dog, three kinds of fish-"

How very nice. For politeness' sake, I did not ask her what she expected the spirits thought of her slipping in and out of so many forms that were not her own. How disgustingly ungrateful, like dipping a single crisp in five different dips at a party, or dipping a dirty quill in a pot of white ink. But, I had been told that this was simply how Fairies were. They skimmed the surface of so many different types of magic without ever taking the time to delve deeper and take what they learned to heart. Perhaps that's typical of a society consisting of so many creatures bearing evidence of dragonflies in their wings.

"Anyway," I sighed. "You asked whether Anti-Fairies are considered good luck. Truthfully, the answer is complicated. You see, the core principle of Zodiism is, opposites attract and like repels like. Like, um…" I pricked my ears. "I know. The stairs which lead from the main floor of the Castle down to the basement. They're chiselled out of shiny black stone. Like repels like, and being a negative colour, black stairs prevent negative energy from travelling between the floors. Black is a highly preferred colour when it comes to decorating corridors, entryways, and staircases, you see."

Emery scratched her cheek. "Oh. So, for Anti-Fairies, black is actually considered lucky?"

"Well, now you've just gone and ruined it. See here, Zodiism is a tricky thing to master, darling, in that its principles of luckiness only hold so long as you believe in them. Opposites attract, as I said. The moment you go around ascribing luckiness to an object, it sucks positive energy from the world around it, draining it all and leaving its surroundings unprotected." As I spoke, I bent down to pick a pebble from the ground to use as a demonstration. "However, that positive energy within the lucky charm then begins attracting negative energy until you knock it against something made of wood. After which, the positive energy held within the charm disperses into the air, opening a hole which is then to be filled by the more dominant supply of energy in the area. For better or worse. Do you see?"

I thought it was a very sound explanation, but Emery looked at me as though I'd just had my head bitten off by a chimera. "So good luck charms are actually bad luck charms," she checked. "Because they attract bad luck."

"Ach." I rolled my eyes. "Well, you're half right, so half your credit is fairly deserved. But you still misunderstand the most basic principle."

"Which is?"

"Balance, my dear." Dropping the pebble, I pinched the tips of my forefingers and thumbs together to make circles and held them in front of my chest, my middle and pinky fingers extended. "The universe is constantly shifting nearer and farther from its natural homeostasis point, or its point of perfect balance. Zodiism is the theory stating that when you deliberately place yourself in a stressful situation or in harm's way, not only will you not be severely injured by the event, but you will, in fact, even benefit from the encounter. Perhaps during your time spent healing from minor injury, you may learn a lesson of humility- or perhaps you will discover that your caretaker or a fellow patient is a fair friend or, yes, even your soulmate."

"That's possible, I suppose…"

"Suppose? Ha!" I tossed back my head, my bangs sweeping over my eye. "We Zodii do not believe in 'possible' so much as we believe in probable. It is, in fact, extremely likely for such an encounter to occur after willingly placing yourself in a stressful event like that! Why is this so? Because high risk results in high reward, you see, and good karma will soon be flowing your way. It's homeostasis, Emery; simple regression towards the mean. Anti-Fairies are simultaneously just as lucky as they are unlucky, adjusting to balance the flow of luck in a variety of contexts as they flit about the world." Just to irritate her before she could hit me with any of that 'My daddy said' stuff, I added, "Basic psychology."

I could hear her teeth clenching inside her mouth. When she continued to steam without retorting, I deflated my shoulders with a sigh.

"What I mean to say is, luck is a predictable concept with unpredictable results. According to Zodii traditions, there's no such thing as an accident. Only what was fated to happen, and what must be. Like when I confronted that Fire umbra in the arena a moment ago. My understanding is that a Fairy placed in a high-stress situation will automatically poof away from the immediate line of danger, and perhaps strike her attacker upon reforming. You're a very simple people whose battle techniques are limited to whaling on an enemy until it collapses from sheer exhaustion. Against a thick-skinned enemy like the one I faced, your techniques would be helpless, as you would run out of energy long before you managed to pierce such a monster's skin." I waved my hand for emphasis. "Fairy magic is spontaneous and powerful, understand, but Anti-Fairy magic is about technique and creative energy. Manipulating your environment to win you the best advantage in a fight. Brains, skill, and luck can overcome simple brawn any day. Karma flow is living poetry, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Emery murmured, evidently lost in thought. I angled my ears her way.

"What are you thinking about now, darling?"

"About those umbrae, and that stuff you did."

"What about them?"

"You Anti-Fairies… you guys say that you don't cause bad luck, so much as disperse it. Right? When you hex someone. All that stuff about breaking mothers' backs or bringing about plagues." Emery leaned forward so she could try to see my frozen face. "The bad luck energy can't be physically destroyed, so you Anti-Fairies just spread it thinner so when it does hit, it won't hit as hard as it would if an umbra were in control of it. Right? You don't really mean to do those bad things. You don't want to hurt anybody. Right?"

My mouth dried. I looked away, too quickly.

"Have you ever hurt anyone on purpose?" Emery asked in a soft and serious voice.

I stared across the courtyard, willing the adults to come back over right now. Amazingly, they did begin to trail back our way, but not quickly enough. Emery was still staring at me with that accusatory look, and if I let her, she would take my guilty silence for an answer.

"Have you ever knocked over a larger child's block tower?" I asked, tightening my claws into my legs. "Or kicked sand in a bully's face? Or dodged a punishment by casting your transgressions on your older brother? Or gotten your own mum accused of domestic abuse and at risk of being thrown out on the streets without half a second of thought? I daresay causing bad luck feels like that. When…" I had to try hard to remember the words I'd been taught to use. "When you grow up with this stuff… You learn to love it. It's not so bad, it's… It's funny, you know? It's vindication. It's… it's catharsis. Our people aren't bad, we're just… We're just different. From you. We're not bad. We're just a little mischievous from time to time. We're just having fun, really."

"You're a sick little drake, kid."

A single, utterly intelligent response popped into my brilliant five-year-old brain right about then. I pulled my bangs down over my eyes. "Leave me alone."

Emery stood and trotted over to Ambrosine as the adults closed in around me. I looked up to find Anti-Elina hovering a pace away. She held an unravelled scroll in her fist, though she didn't offer it to me. I hopped to my feet, brushing grit from my black and blue robes.

"Julius, we've returned with your results."

I swallowed. "Yes, High Countess."

Multiple worms of thought began to writhe in my brain. Why, exactly, had I been asked to run the assessment again solo? Did this have anything to do with them finding out Mona wasn't my true soulmate? That didn't seem relevant at this time. Mother hadn't injured me for awhile, and I hadn't cheated in any way during our teamwork test- which, by the way, I saw no point in doing, seeing as I was already collaborating with three other intelligent people.

Was it because they knew I liked… that I didn't want to… that I thought…?

I did not look at Ambrosine, therapist brought in from the opposite side of the cloudlands. I did not look at Emery, clinging self-righteously to his hand. I did not look at Anti-Bryndin, stiff and begrudging in the background. I did not look at anyone but Anti-Elina. Who was smiling at me. Why was she smiling at me?

Anti-Elina placed her hand to my shoulder. Her soft fingers tightened around my bones. "Julius, you are an incredibly gifted child. When we saw you attempting to lure those umbrae in there into a false sense of security by making them think you actually desired to befriend them? Absolute genius, especially at your age."

"O-oh?"

"Your brilliant memory, quick thinking, devotion to the zodiac, and interest in politics have attracted the camarilla's attention for some time. Ambrosine is a mind and magic therapist, and we brought him here to confirm our suspicions."

"Yes?" My chest swelled. What exactly was going on here? Might Anti-Elina be saying what I thought she was saying? She'd complimented me on my quick thinking and my brains, and even cited my budding interest in the structure of our society. Did she intend to suggest I train beneath Anti-Dakota and Anti-Irica so I could claim the Seat of Water on her camarilla court someday? Was she allowed to offer that sort of special, childhood training? I didn't see why not.

Or did Anti-Elina have something even more special in mind? What if… she suggested I trained beneath Anti-Buster to become First General someday! Ohh, now there was an idea! It would never happen on my smoke, of course, but it was an entertaining concept to toy with.

"Anti-Bryndin and I have been talking, Julius, and we've decided your talents are wasted on basic field work. We want you to train as a homeostasis specialist. Specifically, we think you have what it takes to be an architect."

My dreams of ever holding a position on the camarilla shattered like chunks of urn. I blinked. "What? No!" I took a step back and bumped into the rock where I'd been sitting beside Emery just a moment ago, when everything was similar. "You want me to- to become one of those stuffy old folk with the white beards and the tall staffs who consider their weekend fun to be measuring the length of windows, or who are called out to fix the plumbing in Fairy World's shantyhouses all the time? Living off the land with their little tents and satchels of herbs, surviving off the scraps I manage to beg from sympathetic families? I- I-" I grabbed my crown with both hands, my eyes bulging. "I don't want to design boring plans for boring people every boring day for the rest of my life!"

Anti-Elina pulled back her head, the energy field ringing with cracking branches around her. "You don't want to be an architect? There are so many creatures in the universe you could help."

I hadn't meant to cry in front of Ambrosine and Emery, but when my vision began to go blurry, I knew it was too late. "But I want to do field work with my friends. Everyone else gets to do field work!"

"Yes," Anti-Bryndin interjected, shoving his arm in front of Anti-Elina. He shot her a dangerous look. "Anti-Elina, he does not want it. He is smart enough and does not need any of the extra teachings. He is smart enough."

"Julius," Anti-Elina tried again, a faint note of pleading in her voice. I rubbed my hand up my cheek. She pushed the two colourful, clacking stones away from her eyes and crouched down in front of me. "You were given exceptional talent. What would Tarrow want you to do with it? You have such a creative mind. You could go on to design murals, monuments, gardens, shrines, mansions… Maybe even a zodiac Temple someday, should another ever be knocked down."

I tried to reconcile my mental image of an old, moustached drake travelling humbly across the cloudlands with a tent and a small supply of food in hand, laden down with charmed jewels and blueprints, against Anti-Elina's praise for the occupation. Her comment regarding Tarrow stung me to my core, and I rubbed my shoulder with my hand.

"Might I consider your offer for awhile, High Countess?" I asked, lifting my eyes to meet hers. "As I see it, I'm only going to grow more intelligent from here, aren't I? May I experiment with my career options and have a spot of fun playing with my friends first, before I have to leave the Castle and go be a Zodii-devoted acolyte and all?"

As Anti-Elina stood and brushed her claws through her hair, Anti-Bryndin shot her another harsh look. "You place many ideas of grand things in his head," he said, in nearly a growl.

"You have a little while to figure out what it is you really want," Anti-Elina decided evasively. She stared down her nose at me, and then twirled around on her heels. Her wings flashed like a fluttering cloak. "But you sell yourself too short, Julius. Whatever happens, don't ever waste those brains of yours. And that's an order."

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A/N - Foop: *Floats into training room with any slightly unbalanced energy flow* *Blasts everything to dust and causes smoking room to channel Soil energy* *Destroys Water umbrae that materialize in the rubble because this is the only strategy he ever uses so he's gotten pretty skilled at fighting acrobatic Water umbrae* *Anti-Wanda gives him an enthusiastic passing grade while Anti-Cosmo facepalms in shame*