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I don’t know about you, but generally I have much more to my life than sitting around analyzing the actions of a prince or being mad at “arrogant jerks”. After all, I couldn’t possibly hate a guy who cushioned my fall, could I? So let’s move on past the confusion and throbbing and onto the best part of my academy life.
Technically speaking, the Academy was the only school for fairies, because, well, it was the only school in L’Fayett. Of course there were the special training fairies (like Nixie’s new guy who I still hadn’t met), but they made rare appearances. So it was a pretty big deal to be a champion in any sport within the Academy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you are now looking at the reigning Xflits champion.
“Hurry up, Petal!” Flecks of green dust were nudging me from behind, and I knew Nixie was worrying about us being late again.
“You know I live for these moments, Nix.” I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a tradition, but one of the activities I was particularly fond of was waiting until there were just about 30 seconds on the clock then speeding straight into our coach Professor Shadowflitter just as the Campanulas (known more commonly to the Dreamers as bellflowers) burst into song.
“Well I’m not participating in your crazy antics, so hope you make it in time.” With that, the poking in my back stopped and her dust raced away behind her as she lifted off and flew away. Nice.
I yawned, stretching my arms and wings as far as I could. Thankfully Prince Flavian had caught me during my plummet earlier, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to make practice today. On the other hand, I didn’t get to go to the infirmary to rest and now I was so tired from class that I would have almost forgotten I was in the middle of the hall, had some psycho not knocked into me.
“Ow,” I said as I got up from the ground (we were certainly becoming good friends today).
I turned around to apologise, but the tall Fire fairy beat me to it.
“You ox-eye daisy! Why the whortleberry were you just standing around in the middle of nowhere? Can’t you see that some people are trying to get by? Flaming watch where you’re going.”
I’ve probably already said that I’m non-confrontational, but yeah, just watch the show one more time.
There were two ways I could handle the situation:
Get even angrier than Irate Fire Boy and throw back his insults double-time; or
Apologize in a mature fashion then offer him my lawyer’s number in case he wanted to sue.
Honestly, I would have gone with the first option. It sounds so much cooler when you replay the scene, with him shouting at me then me returning his serves then winning the game. The second was good, but didn’t add enough drama to my otherwise-uninteresting life.
Unfortunately, some things aren’t meant for you to choose, and for me that included reactions to large, intimidating fairies (it didn’t help that Water fairies were naturally smaller than the others, and somehow I just had to be smaller than the average Water fairy). So I blinked rapidly in horror as the tears formed behind my eyes.
Crap, not again.
I was saved by a rush of dust in front of my face – that was the 30 second alarm I had previously cast.
“Sorry, late!” I managed, relieved to get away from Irate Fire Boy, before I turned around sharply and pulled myself into the air.
Anyone who’s always just-on-time would know that there is great pleasure derived from being almost-late. It’s an anxiety that builds up as you move along, wondering if you should go just slightly faster or keep to the left instead of the right. It’s a fear that turns into relief every time you dodge another passerby, or weave through a crowd as easily as rivers flow. Most importantly, it’s the sense of accomplishment you feel when you skid to a stop right where you should be, just before people can shake their heads and ‘tsk’ at you for being late.
Well, I got that down pat, but Professor Shadowflitter shook her head anyway, sighing for good measure. I beamed.
“Maybe one day you’d wake up and realize Coach didn’t like you anymore. Then you’d be wondering ‘was I in denial all these years?’” Nixie had come up behind me. “Or maybe you’ll finally be late enough times to be cut from the team.”
“Nix, I’m never late. I time it properly.” Well, I gave myself a few seconds extra in case something happened, so I guess that counted.
“You never know,” She rolled her eyes. “I still think it’s dangerous.”
“I think it’s good practice though!” I laughed and hugged her. “We’ll be fine.”
While I was the individual top seed, Nixie and I made the best Xflits double team in the kingdom, narrowly beating out some of the fairies from special training. In their defense, they were much more skilled, and though we could handle obstacles and do tricks better than them, they’d probably be able to kill an opponent quicker than we could avoid one. Oh well. We were still the champions though.
Special Training hadn’t sent a competitor for individual events in a while, so that’s why I competed mainly against other fairies from the Academy. I attributed my dexterity to my tendency to perennially be running late. (Ooh, so many big words in that sentence)
“Warm ups!” Coach called, and a set of rods floated into the air above us.
One good thing about being a fairy is that gravity doesn’t really affect you (unless a crying fairy knocks you out of the air or you’re doing a really extreme stunt). It was easy to fly up to my own bar and grasp it tightly.
One bad thing about being a fairy on a sports team is that even though gravity doesn’t really affect you, the coach thinks it’s amusing to make you feel like a human.
“Wings closed!” she continued. As I complied, suddenly my body weight was transferred to my arms.
Paiiiiin.
I won’t bother you with the full details of practice, but rest assured I was fully exhausted at the end of it. Nixie had took it upon herself to update me about the newcomer while we practiced our stunts – his name was Aciano, and he was 23 (same age as Prince Kailen, I noted). He had joined Special Training when he was 10, and his first mission begun when he was 16.
Great, I feel so accomplished now was all I thought as I glided slowly to Reception. Seriously, what was an Xflits championship (or two, counting the doubles title) compared to half a lifetime of work? Even though Special Training had vague objectives and mostly confidential missions, it did take something to be helping the kingdom in such a way.
“Such a way” being “not sitting around in an office listening to mindless complaints”.
The grand doors to my office building slid open as I drew nearer, but I couldn’t help but notice the… being, standing next to them. He was the right size for a fairy, but somehow his wings seemed to be missing. Maybe he had gotten into an accident like my mom! Or maybe he was just a very old Imaginary Friend (most of them were still children).
The being was just standing there and observing his surroundings, as if he was looking for something. Well, he was outside Reception. There definitely should be someone inside that could help him.
“Do you need help?” Okay, I wasn’t all that interested in offering my services (I could be paid for that once I made my way through the doors) but I did want to know who – or what – he was, and what he was doing.
“I’m actually looking for the Gardens.”
Ah, Phlox. Tourists and those who couldn’t pronounce it called it the Gardens (not like our whole kingdom wasn’t a large garden, but never mind) and it was the home of Dust, our local travelling fair that offered almost anything you wanted. Films, rides, concerts, entertainment… The only catch was that you had to find it. It could be located anywhere In Phlox, but often there were clues hinting to its location. But finding Dust wasn’t even half the fun, because being there was simply exhilarating. Imaginary Friends and Monsters came over once in a while for the experience, but Dreamers were too clumsy and grounded in their own kingdom to experience much of L’Fayett.
Some fairies also lived in Phlox, but its other main feature was Homeland, where the flowers of fairies who had passed on were kept. When all the petals were shed, the fairy would be ready for rebirth. Personally I had never witnessed anything of the sort, but that was the common belief.
“Are you an Imaginary Friend?” He couldn’t be a fairy, I reasoned, because a fairy would know his way around. And he didn’t look much like a monster to me.
“Actually, I’m a Dreamer.”
Have you ever seen a whirlpool? Like when a river is rushing and suddenly all the water is sucked out from the middle and there’s just a large circle of water at the surface filtering below.
Yeah, that’s probably what my mouth looked like.
“Really? What’s your name? Where are you from? How come you’re not like the rest?” I willed my dust to record all his answers into a spark; Nixie would like to hear this later and it would be such a waste if I forgot anything of what he said after another crazy day at work.
He hesitated before answering. “Jay Vogan,” He offered me his hand and I shook it. “I might as well answer your questions because we probably won’t see each other again, after all both L’Fayett and Earth are quite large places.”
Earth? Oh, of course, that was the name Dreamers used to refer to Drearilia.
“I’m from Earth but you probably already knew that. I don’t know why I’m not like the rest, what are they like? Maybe I get to be like I am because I’ve always believed in fairies.” He flashed me a charming grin, and even though he was probably much too old for me I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Well I’m actually running late, so if you’d point me in the direction of Phlox I’d be really grateful.”
“I don’t think you can fly, can you? So I guess you should take the Rainbow; it’s big enough to see from here. Just walk in its direction and there’ll be an entrance at the base.” I gestured to the large multicolored arch in the distance. “Shouldn’t be too far away.”
“Thanks for your help,” Jay smiled at me again, this time looking straight into my eyes.
Then he turned and walked away.
The last thing I remembered was that he had used “Phlox” instead of “the Gardens”. Had he known its real name all along? Why didn’t he just use it in the first place? As I watched the stranger fade into the distance, I realized he hadn’t given me his name. Or had he?
By the time I reached the F.O.E. room, my brain felt cloudy, almost as if all the tests and people I had met or crashed into today had coagulated and were now bouncing around my mind, trying to confuse me.
“I’m exhausted,” I mentioned to Thaern, who was already there.
“You’re late,” He countered. “But practice days are always bad for you, so just hurry up and get to work. You don’t want to reach home in the middle of the night.”
Thaern turned away from me and back towards his desk. Maybe he was preparing something for Delfina.
“I met a Dreamer.” The words had just tumbled out of my mouth before I could think about them.
“Really? You met one? Don’t they usually just lumber around knocking into walls and raiding houses?” Thorne had swiveled around, now leaning forward and flitting slightly in interest. But his daisychain floated up, and he rolled his eyes. “Wait, gotta take this one.”
I set my things down at my own desk and blinked. I wasn’t quite sure what I had told Thaern.
“Really?”His voice echoed in my mind as I replayed the day’s events in my mind. Late for school, knocked out of the air, Prince Kailen, Irate Fire Boy, practice, doors sliding open, office. No Dreamer?
I honestly didn’t know.
On to my loves:
Airily: All I can say is . Well, that and this chapter probably wasn't as interesting as it should have been, so. Sorry ):
phelps112: To tell you the truth I haven't actually gotten a clear picture of what I'm doing, I just... make it up as it goes along, so I hope there aren't any inconsistencies. I'm still wondering if the fairies are big or small. Anyway no worries I'm not big on swimming, I was just like ooh look I recognise that name!!
Writing Addict: Thanks for the review, I looooove the face :3 Almost the cutest thing ever (well I'm sure there are cuter things, just that I can't think of them right now)