On the other side of the hall, Naomi found herself in the most incredible room she'd ever seen. The walls were white in this room as well. The ceiling was reverse dome-shaped and made completely out of frost-tinted glass that hid fluorescent lights behind, bring light into the room. Hanging from the ceiling on invisible strings were hundreds of crystals and colored glass in shades of all colors and hues. The crystals refracted the light in all directions, making the whole room look like swirling opalescence. There was no furniture except for a few house plants that were more green than seemed natural.
"What is this place, exactly?" Naomi couldn't help asking as she followed Darcy and Alec down another hall.
"A long time ago," Darcy said, "my ancestors built this underground hideout for people like us. It was a safe place where they could live for months on end if they ever found themselves in danger. It was a sacred place. My family has watched over this sanctuary for centuries. But, as time went on and people started coming to the New World and taking the Natives' lands, my ancestors knew it was only a matter of time before this land was no longer under their control. The family had made plans to destroy this place so it would never been found and defiled like so many other sacred lands to my people. But there was a young girl in the family who had an idea. She knew the land would only remain untouched if it were the property of a white man. So, she married one. She convinced him that this land was sacred to her people and needed to be protected. So, her husband bought the land and started to build a cabin where he and his wife could live. That man was my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather."
"People like us?" Naomi said. She turned to Alec. "So, you... you can... Shift, too?"
"Shift?" Alec repeated. "I like it. Way better than 'Change.' That's caused way too many awkward misunderstandings. And yes, I can."
They entered a kitchen that was just as grand as the one upstairs. Alec invited them to sit down at the counter as he served them potato slivers covered in gravy one-handed.
"You made funeral potatoes?" Naomi asked, blowing on a small bite.
"Funeral potatoes? I've never heard them called that before," Alec said.
"That's what my maman always called them."
"Try them," he urged. "Are they good?"
Naomi had never really been a fan of this dish, but she didn't want to hurt Alec's feelings, so she took a bit. Her mouth exploded with flavor. The gravy was pleasantly salty and had a dash of garlic. There was a hint of another spice as well. Cajun, maybe?
"Wow," she said once she'd swallowed. "They're really good."
"Alec's one of the best chefs I know," Darcy said, taking a bite of her own plate. "But he always makes potatoes."
"That's because they're magical," Alec said. "You can cook and serve them in any way under the sun but they'll still taste great if you do it right. Plus," he added, "they're the only thing Pip will eat."
"Who's Pip?" Naomi asked around another bite of potatoes.
As if in response, the front of Alec's shirt began to wiggle like there was something underneath it. It started right beneath his heart and climbed its way up to his collar until out popped the furry face and bright golden eyes of a small black kitten. He let out a tiny meow and leapt from Alec's shoulder to the counter. He had small, furry paws, a pink nose, invisible whiskers, and a white spot in the center of his chest.
Alec set a small serving of potatoes on a plate and set it next to him, and the kitten gladly started eating.
Naomi dropped her fork and covered her mouth to keep herself from squealing at the cuteness of it.
"He's so cute!" she gushed.
"Naomi," Alec said, "meet Pip, the mascot of Team Changeling."
Pip looked at Naomi and meowed, like he was saying hello, then went back to his eating.
Naomi tore her eyes from the kitten to look at Alec. "Changeling? As in fairies that have taken the place of human babies?"
Alec laughed, but when Darcy and Naomi didn't join in, he stopped and looked at Naomi like she was an Algebra problem he couldn't understand. "You mean you don't know?" he asked.
"We haven't gotten to that part yet, Al," Darcy said.
"What? Haven't gotten to what part? What are you talking about?" Naomi demanded, the cat and potatoes forgotten. She looked back and forth from Darcy to Alec, looking for an answer.
Darcy was just opening her mouth to respond when a voice behind them said, "So, you brought her."
Naomi whipped around. Standing stiffly in the doorway was Sunshine exactly as she remembered him: no smile, neatly combed blond hair, tall and lithe, expensive watch, loafers, the whole thing. He nodded to her in greeting. "Naomi," he said tonelessly.
"Yes, I brought her," Darcy said, her face instantly red with anger. "I told you I was going to, and I was right to do it."
The only change in expression on the boy's face was the raise of a brow. "Is that so?"
"She's one of us, Sunshine," Darcy said, just like she had in room 113 only a few days ago. Had it really been so resent? It felt like it'd been years.
For the first time, an emotion crossed Sunshine's face-- irritation, though it only lasted a moment before he schooled his features and became a statue of disinterest again. "That is not my name, Darcy. You know my name. Please, use it."
Darcy opened her mouth to to give what would no doubt be a snarky response, but Alec cut her off.
"Hey, man," he said. "Want some potatoes? They just came out of the oven!" He offered him a plate.
Sunshine accepted it with a simple nod of thanks and was about to take a seat next to Naomi when his eyes landed on Pip eating his own plate of potatoes. "Don't tell me you are letting your pet eat on the counter again, Alec."
Pip seemed to know he was being talked about and hissed at Sunshine before returning to his lunch.
"He's not my pet, he's my friend," Alec corrected.
"Yes, you seem to make friends with just about anything that you find in a dumpster," Sunshine said bluntly.
"I never caught your name," Naomi said before Alec could reply, hoping to cut off an argument before it could start. "You never introduced yourself when we met before, and I've only ever heard you referred to as Sunshine, but it's obvious you prefer to not be called that."
"My name is Félix Namara," he said.
"Nice to officially meet you."
"You are one of us, then, are you?" Félix said.
"I... I don't-"
"We were just getting to explaining that part when you barged in," Darcy said coldly.
"Don't let me stop you," he said as he blew on a bite of potato. "Carry on, please."
"You do it," she spat, folding her arms angrily. "You know you're just gonna correct everything I say, anyway."
"Very well." He turned to Naomi. "Naomi, when we bumped into one another the second time we met, I dropped a book."
"The Origins of Brownies," Naomi recalled. "Yes, I remember. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Am I right in presuming you thought the book to be a work of fantasy?"
"Well, of course it was fantasy," Naomi said. "It was talking about a species of fairy."
"That is precisely what made The Origins of Brownies a non-fiction," Félix said.
Naomi stared at him like he'd just pulled a live fish out of his ear. "You're telling me that Brownies are real?"
"Oh, not just Brownies," Félix said, taking a bite of his food. "Trolls, Pixies, Hobgoblins, Witches, Manticores, Mujinas. Any and every creature from any legend or myth you can name are not only very real, but they are also very much alive." He said it so simply, so logically, that had the idea not been so impossible, Naomi might have believed him.
"But those are just stories," Naomi argued. "Monsters for a hero to fight, or a spirit to explain natural phenomena."
"And where do you think the inspiration for these stories came from?" he asked calmly. "Humans are astonishingly unoriginal creatures. They only know how to plagiarize, steal, and mutilate. No, humans are not clever enough to think up beings you might call magical based on nothing. You know the stories of monsters and spirits because they truly exit."
"Well, if they exist, then why don't we see fairies flying around all the time?" Naomi demanded. "Or angry Minotaurs destroying cities?" She looked to Alec and Darcy to back her up, but they just sat and listened.
"Once, humans did see such things," Félix said. "Thousands of years ago, before the written word was even an idea, creatures of myth and legend lived in harmony. Werewolves were hunters' best friends, and the fiery breath of Chimeras combined with the metalworking skills of Cyclopes were a must in every forge. For years, the humans and magical creature lived together. Then, everything changed when humans started to attack.
"At first the humans were justified in their killing of magical creatures. To begin, they only attacked monstrous beasts that had destroyed human lives, for just as there are good and bad humans there are good and bad magical creatures. But the humans soon began to see any creature possessing magic as dangerous, and they began hunting them down, determined to eradicate them." He paused to eat another potato sliver, then continued. "They very nearly succeeded. Any magical creature humans didn't kill they started to use for their own selfish desires. Humans enslaved them, forcing them to build large structures they could never build on their own, like Stonehenge, or the Great Pyramids. Anything and anyone remotely associated with magic went into hiding. At least, until Oberon."
"Oberon," Naomi repeated. "Like from Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream?"
"Precisely. Like in the play, Oberon was the King of the Fairies, Fairies referring to all magical creatures. He had tried to come to a peaceful resolution with humans, but to no avail. Any messengers he sent came back dead or dying, and any attempts to gather a summit to establish peace and cooperation died faster than one who has caught the Black Death."
"Colorful way of putting it," Darcy muttered.
Alec shushed her. "This is my favorite part."
Pip, his plate now licked clean, leaped over to Naomi's and tilted his head in a pleading way. Naomi didn't need to be a cat whisperer to know what he was asking. She slid her plate towards him and the kitten started eating with gusto.
Félix's grey eyes flashed in annoyance at them before he cleared his throat and continued. "Oberon knew it was only a matter of time before all magical creatures were either dead or enslaved to a life worse than death, so he gathered what remained of his kingdom and cast a powerful spell that would protect his people forever. He created a magical barrier, the Oberonian Veil, between this world and the realm of magic. The spell was a powerful one and required constant control, or else the Veil would tear to pieces and release so much raw, unfiltered magic that it would destroy all life in both this world the the one he created for his people. And so King Oberon sacrificed himself. He became one with the Veil, holding it steady and strong until this day.
"Since that time, humans have forgotten the creatures of magic they used to hunt with, eat with, live with. They began to write them off as stories to tell around a campfire. They began to forget what their true history was. It didn't take long for the word 'magic' to be scoffed and scorned as make-believe, and life has been that way ever since. The humans have stayed on their side of the Veil, Earth, and the magical folk have remained in the realm King Oberon created for them, Élphame."
Élphame. Naomi had heard that word before. It took her a moment to remember. Félix had mentioned it in his conversation with Darcy at school.
Finished with his tale, Félix turned to his plate and finished his potatoes while Naomi tried to wrap her mind around what he had told her.