"Lily, how did you only just find out?" Claire looked up from her phone when they walked into Fairy Health. "I've known since Year 7."
"I... I guess I never put two and two together." Lily admitted, still reeling at the shock of Jack's ancestry.
"So?" Claire raised a brow when they sat down in their chairs. "I don't think anyone else really knows, but she doesn't hide it."
"If she were she'd never wear the rings, right?" Lily fiddled with her sister's old ring still resting on her hand. "That's a bit of a giveaway."
Claire cocked her head. "I don't think she can remove them."
"...But they're just rings?"
"Is anything that simple?" Claire leaned closer as more students rolled into the classroom. "I think the rings help channel her powers, help her focus."
"They're magic rings?"
"Not really but yeah."
"That's not that helpful." Lily frowned.
The fairy put her phone into her bra, out of sight out of mind. "Look, from what I know, and I usually know everything that goes on in this school, the rings each have the stones on top which, I guess, negate her powers affecting anything Jack doesn't want them to."
"How'd they get Andromeda's rings?" Lily wondered. "Did she remove them before...?"
"I guess so, but I wouldn't ask Jack." Claire deadpanned. "Pretty awful to ask someone if before their grandma burned to death they removed her rings, right?"
Lily's cheeks burned before she noticed Claire swallow a lump in her throat. "Oh no, you asked?"
"I'm nosy, I admit." Claire waved Lily's shocked expression away. "Apparently the guards removed her rings before they killed her - but the rings went to Freida, the next of kin. She was the previous Supernova before the mysterious one we have now, but when Jack was born Frieda gave the rings to her as soon as she showed her abilities."
"So what's helping Frieda channel her powers?" Lily asked.
"Have you met Jack's mother? She's missing some marbles."
Lily couldn't help but remember Frieda's peculiar prophecy when she was last over at the witch's home, how her eyes bore into your soul and showed glimmers of madness. "Oh that's really sad."
Claire did a double take between Lily and their teacher who'd just walked in. "Jack's mother may be a little crazy but she's still a strong woman, psychic or not. Don't say much about Frieda's sanity to Jack, it's a touchy subject for her."
Lily nodded. "I understand. Thanks for clearing some things up."
"Not a problem."
Ms Marlowe waited in silence as the class quietened down and waited for her to speak. Lily swallowed the ball of nerves that danced in her throat as Ms Marlowe looked down her narrow nose at her students, scanning the room searching for a student to pry on.
"Rico!" She spat, targeting one of the few male fairies at the school. "What's the meaning behind 'defibrillator'?"
Rico immediately started to sweat. "Um, it's a device used to start someone's heart, Miss."
"No, try again."
"...I don't know Miss."
"Anyone know?" She swept her arm in an arc, opening the question up to the other students. Lily couldn't help but compare her swipe with that of a snake, how it coils up and hisses at prey.
Claire raised her hand confidently. "It's a device used to stop fibrillation, a condition where the heart beats too fast, usually during cardiac arrest."
"Yes, thank you Claire." Ms Marlowe flipped to a page in the text book and showed a picture of a modern defibrillator with its stick pads and wires. "The defibrillator stops fibrillation by generating an electric current that passes through the heart. As fairies, you have the ability to soothe fibrillation with your magic."
Lily blinked and whispered to Claire next to her. "I didn't know fairies could generate electricity?"
Ms Marlowe heard. "We can't generate electricity Lily. We heal, not harm. Defibrillators use static electricity to jolt the heart to a natural rhythm. We have the ability to slow the heart down to its natural beat. That's what I mean by soothing fibrillation."
"Oh." Lily blushed, making a note of that in her notebook. She didn't know what for, this was her last class in Fairy Health, but the habit hard to break.
Ms Marlowe narrowed her eyes briefly. "In order to slow the heart down, you must understand how the heart works. Chapter 24!"
Lily didn't speak for the rest of the lesson, too embarrassed by being called out. Ms Marlowe was the type of person that enjoyed humiliating her students and Lily wasn't going to give another moment of joy at her expense.
She also let herself ponder Jack and her heritage. Lily knew Jack wasn't to blame for any of it. She was just intimidated.
More so that, according to what Mrs Khan said to her yesterday, Lily was more powerful than Jack - because while Jack knew what she was and what her Supernova mother and grandmother had gifted her within those restraint rings, Lily was at her level without training.
If Lily knew what she was, and had her training, what kind of person would she become? What kind of creature would she be honing, guiding, and what abilities did it have?
Lily was intimidated, overwhelmed. Jack hadn't changed. She had.
Health went by in a blink, and suddenly it was lunch. Lily was at her locker and packing the last of her books in her bag, leaving it empty. This was the last time she was using her locker. It was the last time she'd need it.
She grabbed her lunch with a sigh and removed the padlock, attaching it to the handle, and walked away. She was at the doors to the cafeteria when she heard a familiar nickname bellow across the corridor.
"Hey freak!" Isaac Munford yelled, and Lily sighed. It wouldn't be her last day of school with one last round of bullying from her least favourite vampire.
As she turned to face him, Lily glimpsed the ring on her finger. Rio's ring. Her adventurous sister who was fearless in everything. She wasn't afraid to stand up to anyone, to accept any dare. Lily remembered why she was wearing Rio's ring today.
Take a breath Lilsey. She heard Rio's voice echo in her head. Remember to tuck your thumb against your fist when you punch, and that whenever someone's trying to bring you down, it's because you're above them. Show them what it's like sitting on that throne, little sis!
Lily turned and stared Isaac down. "What?" She said, surprising herself with how strong her voice was.
Isaac smirked at her as his friends crowded behind him. "Oliver here wants a word with you, freak." He spat, then waved to another vampire next to him. His eyes were narrowed and he stared at her with disgust.
"My sister was one of the people you trapped in that room yesterday." He hissed. "I want you to apologise!"
Lily's thumb brushed the base of Rio's ring but she kept her hands to her sides. "I already apologised to Thalia." She said, noticing they had the same eyes and nose.
Oliver clenched his fists. "I want you to apologise to me."
"I don't need to apologise to you." Lily retorted and stared at Isaac. "Is that it?"
Lily saw that Isaac wasn't as confident as he was a minute ago. His brows furrowed, realising she wasn't going to just let his words hurt her. "You didn't lock your locker, Morgan." He grinned maliciously. "What do we have in there?"
Lily stayed by the doors as Isaac's goons ran to her locker and yanked it open, a sense of satisfaction warming her chest when their faces dropped at the empty sight. "There's nothing here, dude." His mate said.
"What?" Isaac frowned further.
"It's my last day." Lily explained, not that he needed one.
Isaac blinked, before plastering the smirk on his face again. "Well I'd have to make your last day worth it then!"
"Why do you even care?" Lily shook her head, surprising herself at her outburst. "We're not friends. You're a bully. You should rejoice that I'm out of your life."
Isaac drew back. "I'm not a bully."
Lily took her hand off the cafeteria door and squared up to him. "You've been calling me a freak for years. You and your mates have slammed me into lockers and gone through my bags, laughing at me every day."
Isaac and his friends stepped back when Lily's eyes burned an eerie grey, a melting silver ore. "You're a bully. And I'm graduating early because I've surpassed you in every way. You haven't won this fight. You've never won them." Lily said, taking a step back to enter the cafeteria to eat with her friends. "You're not above me."
Take that, you punk! You see her? That's my sister, you can't even reach her throne!
Lily left without giving him another chance to speak, leaving the door swinging as she entered the cafeteria. She walked to where Jack, Karen and Claire were sitting. Lily sat down, shutting her eyes for a moment to calm herself. She wasn't angry, or upset.
She was relieved, like a weight was off her shoulders. The anchor dragging her down finally let go.
When she opened her eyes, unbeknownst to her they were back to their normal brown. Jack, Karen and Claire all blinked at her, wary. Lily, thinking they were confused because of her tardiness, smiled at them.
"I finally stood up to Isaac." Lily said, stroking Rio's sapphire ring.
Jack grinned. "About time. All these years and you tell him to piss off on your last day when you won't see him again, I'm impressed!"
Claire beamed. "You tell him, girl. I would have love to have seen his face! I have to tell all the girls, they'll be overjoyed! Isaac Munford's finally been put in his place!"
Karen furrowed her brows a little, but had a soft smile on her face. "I don't like fighting, I'll admit, but regardless I'm proud of you Lily. You look happier already."
Jack rubbed her hands together. "So does that mean that's all over with? 'Cause I'd still like to kick his ass."
" I didn't kick his ass, I just... I told him I was better than him in every way, oh is that bad?"
Jack laughed, her eyes lighting up. "That's the best thing I've heard all week!" Jack held her hand up for a high five, and Lily blushed, gently high-fiving the energetic witch. "Tell me everything, this is the best Friday ever."
Claire sat forward too, eager for the details. Karen smiled in encouragement, quietly eating her food, and Lily grinned at them all.
She was glad that standing up for Jack in History meant she had these three in her life. Lily was happy, ever so happy.