Fairy Eyes

Chapter 7

Belle awoke in a cavern. There, a lady stood over her. She had long black hair and brown eyes. She stared at her.

She found myself laying on a marble table, head resting on a pillow and body covered with a blanket. In the cavern hung a variety of herbs and animal parts.

She sat up quickly.

"You'll regret that" said the woman. "I just put an enchantment on you to fix the scratches from the wolves."

The healer was right. No sooner did she sit up that she started to feel the burning of her cuts.

"Where is Leo?" asked Belle.

"He is asleep. Fought a long, hard battle trying to protect you. Would you like to see him?"

An owl stood in the corner, staring at Belle with beady eyes.

"I'm not sure."

"Nonsense. Of course you want to see him" she said, pulling her along by the hand.

Her grip was strong that she couldn't let go of it even if she wanted to. She led Belle to the cavern where she saw a young man laying on the stone bed asleep.

"This isn't..."

"It is in fact" she said. "When my son falls asleep, the curse leaves him so that his real body appears."

Nicholas was beautiful. His hair was dark, unruly, and curly just like his mother. His body was chiseled, his arms as strong as in the newspaper clipping.

"Did you send Leo to the fairy world to cure him of his vanity? You did this, didn't you?" asked Belle.

"Ah. So you read about how they investigated my relatives."

Belle did in fact read about how they investigated the family looking for a motive. All they could find was that her mother was recently divorced and dating a new man, while her son was poised to inherit a grand sum of his father's money.

"I can't believe you would do that to your own flesh and blood. How else would you be able to see into the fairy realm?"

"I did not in fact. Quite a claim that you make girl. Have you always been this sassy?" asked the witch.

"Only when I have to be" said Belle.

"You're scared" said the woman. "I know how it feels to be trapped in this world, seeking to understand the meaning behind it. Only you are more surprised that there are other individuals in it, having convinced yourself that this realm was an illusion of your imagination. Anyway... The persons that did take our place that very Christmas night were only shadow puppets of the real witch that put a curse on my son. I am only a newly discovered witch, as I have forced to learn to manipulate the circumstances that are in my own disposal to help my son."

"Witches sound like terrible people" scoffed Belle, nervously looking away.

She put her hand over Belle's.

"That is not true at all. Witches are, in fact, very good people. They are a group of beings that have never fully integrated into the spiritual realm or the mortal reality but live in the realm of magic. You too are a witch, or you wouldn't have crossed over here."

"So... this is real? This isn't just in my head?"

"Yes. It's real. You and I are as real as the sky and clouds on Earth. There's something powerful about you" said the woman, looking at Belle. "Truly I feel as if you were drawn to my son for a purpose greater than himself."

"This world has had real elements. I had fairy encounters. The faeries that I have met have convinced me that there is something to this world" admitted Belle, "Yet I often felt like everything else I saw was just meant for my eyes. No one else's. It's frustrating because all I want to do is be able to see the real world again."

"So you are saying that nobody has tried to contact you?"

Belle shook her head.

"This is very strange. Magora would not like to hear of this."

"Magora?"

"She's the powerful witch of light and dark magic. She rules the realm and delegates the conflicts of witches and other magical creatures. Mortals are not usually able to come into this realm unless there is a dark energy that is pulling them in."

The witch looked concerned. She laid Belle on the table. Sprayed incense over her body, gently waving her hands over her body.

"Yes" she said. "There are knots in your energy field. You are being bound by something that wants you here. A dark pervasive energy. It wants you to give up, because if you discovered your own powers, you would have the ability to unite the witches."

She allowed Belle to get up.

"I know you do not want to help my son" confessed the woman.

"I have no desire to help him" admitted Belle.

"Yet he has the power to help you. He has the ability to know that I am trapped here along with his family as much as he is. He's read the signs I've given him. He would be able to help you find the witch that put the curse on him, which would lead me to the dark magic. It would allow me to see reason to help break you of this curse."

"So you do know how, but you would not help me do it?"

She smiled.

"Thanks a lot" muttered Belle sarcastically.

"Think of it this way, he's a very handsome and conceited man. You do have the opportunity to teach him a thing or two" she laughed.

"Now put your hands over his heart" she instructed.

Belle did so.

"He will not remember this when he wakes up. When he does, you must tell him that he was able to successfully fight of the wolves, and that you will agree to help him fight the curse. Thank you" she said, smiling.

The room turned into a white light, and Belle was gone.