Twice Burned

Zoe

I didn't understand the dream I had, and the images were fading even then. I couldn't remember what the men looked like, I just remembered they were there. And the one that was dying knew my name.

I ran my fingers through my ratted hair, letting it fall into my face again. The light from outside felt almost unreal, and as I turned to look out, it shown in my eyes with extreme glare I had to look away. I noticed the clock on the bed stand, telling me it was four o'clock in the morning. 

I ran my hands over my face and rubbed away the sleep from my eyes. I couldn't go back to sleep again now that I was awake. I couldn't stop thinking about the dream, no matter what it was.

Instead, I threw the covers off of me and headed to the balcony, looking all around. The trees glowed with orange light from the sun, and the lake a few miles away seemed to sparkle like no other lake I had seen before. This world was nothing like mine. It had an aura of beauty, unlike the boring world I had lived in, full of grey and snow at the time. 

Looking up into the sky, away from the sun, the last bit of night hung at the edge of the castle, but I couldn't see any stars anymore. The purple faded to pink, to orange, to yellow as the sky lighted up with the sun. It looked like a painting, almost unreal, but vivid and the most real I had seen at the same time.

I heard a crash from what sounded like glass shattering to my right, and I looked over and up to see another balcony looming above me. I heard voices coming from inside, and I realized it must have been Quinn and Nathan's room. I tried to ignore it, but I was confused when all I heard was a woman's voice, or two. I reached over the balcony to see if Nathan's barrier was still there, and it was, so I couldn't go up to see what was happening.

I heard instances where the two voices were small and quiet, then louder and louder until it was like they were screaming. Then there was a point where there was a shift of something big, like a chair or table, then a slam against something. Laughing grew then, which only confused me more.

Another slam and it all went silent. As I watched what was happening on the balcony, I saw a person walking out, getting glimpses of orange and red, but not fully seeing who it was. It was only when she climbed onto the banister that I saw Quinn standing on top of it, wearing a blue slip dress and a ring of flowers around her head. Her eyes were glowing as she pushed off of the balcony, and instantly she unfolded her wings and took off.

Only, it didn't make sense. Quinn was a royal fairy, so their eyes glowed blue, but from what I could tell, her eyes were green, and I could have sworn I saw orange and red when she walked out onto the balcony. Secondly, if she was a royal fairy, she could only fly about 30 feet above the ground at all times, no matter what. But seeing as my balcony was 70 feet above the ground, and Quinn's balcony was above me, how could she have taken her wings out and flown straight?

I watched as Quinn flew away from the castle, toward the forest and the mountains behind it. Where was she going? Where was Nathan?

I went into my room once again, then decided to try the doors. When I got over to them, I grabbed the handles and began to pull, but it was like they were bolted shut. I was trapped, but I couldn't just let go of my confusion. 

I looked around the room, then finally to the table stacked with books. Walking over, I grabbed one and began to read the title. Evolution of Fluttershy, The Published Diary of Queen Wren, Statistics of Modern Fairy Technology. None of these would help me, until I came upon a book titled Physiology of the Fairy Body.

Flipping the book open, I tracked down the pages to the power jewel systems and how they worked.

The power jewel is one of a fairy's main life sources. It connects to the fairy's cerebral cortex and nervous system through the skin and skull of the fairy, directly above the host's nose and between the eyebrows. According to studies, each fairy fits into different categories of types of fairies. There are millions of different types of fairies, such as water benders, light benders, guard fairies, healers, collectors, and most importantly, Royals. Though there are much more types than listed, each come with their own set of abilities to their certain types, and each are used differently within the cerebral cortex. A color represents what type is displayed, and that color corresponds to the host's eye glow. Eye glow is vital to every fairy's power jewel, for it is a sign of threat, or warning, another fairy could give.

If this power jewel were to be removed, it could and most likely would be fatal to the host, as it would damage the brain, similar to a gunshot wound to the head. Of course, there are instances where a fairy could be born with half, or no power jewel at all. These are genetic mutations that leave the fairy disabled. The Butterfly Syndrome is when a fairy is born without a power jewel, but contains the wings and other systems of a natural fairy, still incapable of self magic. The Quiverer Syndrome is when a fairy is born with half of his/her power jewel, leaving the fairy capable of only a portion of their type's abilities to survive. These syndromes are rare, but still occurring to this day.

"I knew it!" I just about yelled, then covered my mouth, remembering it was only early in the morning. 

Quinn couldn't have had a different eye glow than her royal color. So why were her eyes glowing green? Why had I seen orange and red? I must have been seeing things, because none of this made any sense.

I slammed the book shut, and brought it with me to the closet where I had put everything back the way it was. Instead, the hollowed out book for the key laid on the chair in the corner of the closet, where I retrieved the key and took the drawer out of its slot. Then, I reached in and turned the key inside the keyhole, watching as the secret compartment popped open to reveal Quinn's diary.

I opened it, trying to see if there was anything that would help me, but there was nothing but cages and bluebirds and scribbles of writing that had no meaning to me at the time. 

What was Quinn doing?