Turvy Topsy

by Larisa Long

  I stare at her and wonder if she’s saying the words I just heard.

  “She couldn’t,” B2 hisses. “Curse Number …” she sighs and looks at me. “Which number is it?” She asks with as much interest if someone wanted to explain shifter differences.

  “All witches, warlocks and witchlocks hate me is Curse Number 2,” I remind her. “Curse Number 18 was that no witch, warlock or witchlock could look directly at me without consequences. Remember the all realm banshee announcement?”

  The cousins laugh and even the Queen has to stifle her laugh.

  The King sighs. “How long has this been going on?”

  I wonder why he’s suddenly interested. Maybe there was more to the spell than just not looking at me. “Three years.”

  The King looks at me with wide eyes before glaring at his daughters. “Why would you do this? Don’t I give you everything? Provide for anything you could ever need or even think you might want? Why would you be so cruel to your own flesh and blood?”

  Hearing him acknowledge that I’m actually related to them makes my skin itch. I was hoping for long lost daughter of imprisoned freedom fighters, a dangerous hybrid, or even truth to the crab story. I’ll take hatchling any day.

  The cousins bow their heads to him. “Sorry, daddy,” they say in unison.

  The King huffs something and looks at me. “Zalia, I am so sorry. I have failed your parents.” He reaches out to hug me, but I instinctively step back.

  “Sorry, Curse Number 12. Anyone who touches me will burst into flames.”

  Again my aunt coughs to stifle her laughter while the King’s ears become so red with anger he almost shakes.

  “Well, she can touch witches, warlocks and witchlocks now.” B1 puts her hands on her hips and glares at me. “You’re welcome.”

  B2 shakes her head. “So ungrateful. It’s been reversed,” she explains. “Now the brooms love her, but she can’t talk to the others.” She says, others, like the word had grown bored in her mouth and had to escape.

  “Yeah, she can’t talk to the losers.” B4 rolls her eyes. “Big loss.”

  “My best friends are not witchlocks.”

  The King looks at me for an explanation. “Why ever not?”

  I realize he’s new to the whole thirty-six and now thirty-seven curses that have become embedded in my life like a possessed splinter. “Because all witches, warlocks and witchlocks hate me. My parents?” Okay I couldn’t wait anymore. Who knows how long I’ll have before it all goes back to fae.

  The Queen suddenly finds her daughters’ latest manicure more interesting. The King clears his throat. “What about them?”

  I sigh. Must I? Yep. This time I’m found underground like a root who writhes to the surface and is pitied enough to be put into a jar on the kitchen windowsill where I eventually sprout. “Curse Number 3. I never remember my origin and have a different memory whenever I think or someone asks.”

  The King glances at his daughters, and the Queen shakes her head ever so slightly that I don’t think even her daughters noticed.

  He nods and shakes his head. “Girls, I do not have time for this.” He looks at his daughters. “Reverse the spell. Now.”

  “Fiend,” someone shouts from a classroom.

  “All pixies die.” Someone else growls.

  More screams and hisses. “Son of a banshee.” Glass breaks.

  I roll my eyes and so wish we could just swear like humans.

  The King slowly looks at his daughters. “Part of the curse?”

  B2 cringes as B1 pulls a whoopsie face.

  “Did I say it was totally not our fault?” B1 asks. “I think all the species hate each other but seriously hate all brooms now.”

  “Please do not use that word.”

  B1 sighs. “So everyone hates us. They’re just jealous. It’s no big deal. ”

  The King steps back. “No big deal? And how do you expect me to rule over everyone if every species hates us?”

  “Force?” B2 asks much to the nodding of her sisters.

  “King Philock,” several of the witch and warlock faculty appear with open arms. “Queen Ama.”

  While the witchlocks spill out and clog up the hallway, I make my getaway. I have to get to Xury. She’s usually immune to most spells and curses.

  Chapter 7

  I make my way through as witchlocks catch my eye as if they’ve never seen me before. Some of their expressions are friendly. Some are lusty. Some are just plain creepy like they want to possess me or keep me on a keychain. They immediately start to surround me.

  “King and Queen.” I point behind me. “They require your presence. Now.”

  There are gasps and shrieks as they forget about me and make their way towards my aunt and uncle. “Let them deal with it for a change. See how much fun their daughters really are.”

  Luckily, it seems only some of the witchlocks have been released. I have to be careful that I don’t accidentally touch another species. I get to the end of the hallway and peer around. No one coming. I make my way down, careful to lower myself under each doorway window so other witchlocks still in classrooms don’t create a fuss. While I do this, the reflection of former professors appear in the glass and shake their heads at me.

  “Yeah, yeah.” I feel like stealth witch on a mission.

  I finally make it to the third floor where the geniuses are. I frown when I see the hallways empty. Why aren’t more witchlocks on this floor? Maybe we’re not known for our smarts. Something in my stomach jabs at me. I was in these classes. Why? I shrug. Don’t have time for that now.

  I get to Xury’s class and look in. She’s in the middle of the class, and every single desk is tilted towards her. Even the teacher watches and listens as Xury explains things. “She’s like a magnet.” If she taught here, they could save a ton of money. She could teach every class.

  I look at my watch. There’s ten more minutes left. I sink down and sit down on the floor.

  From here, the aviary that surrounds the school looks like it’s about three feet wide on all sides, but it’s actually 1000 acres. Several students over the centuries still haven’t returned from their class projects. Luckily, birds and faeries fly in with notes asking for more extensions. There are new species discovered daily, and many cures have been created from the various plants that exist.

  A tiny bell rings, and I jump up and wait. The door flings open but no one screams out. I peek my head in, but everyone is still enraptured by Xury’s story. She takes out a tiny mirror and puts on some more lipgloss. She has every pixie in the palm of her hand. Some take notes about what she uses and how. Others stare at her and sigh realizing they will never be Xury. She’s definitely one of a kind.

  I decide to try my voice. “Xury.” I yell. No one even looks in my direction. “Xury,” I say louder.

  She doesn’t even skip a beat.

  I feel someone’s breath on the back of my neck and almost jump out of my skin when I turn around to see Blist standing not too far from me. I jump back quickly. “Are you crazy? I could have set you on fire.”

  He gets Xury’s attention, and she immediately puts her finger up to her audience and saunters to Blist. “Have you seen Zalia?”

  “No, she wasn’t in crystal class?”

  “She did the strip spell on Dray yesterday.”

  “Ew,” Xury cringes. She glances behind her and puts another finger up. “Did Z see him?”

  Blist laughs as he nods. “Oh, yeah. She was shocked.”

  “I bet. When I accidentally walked in on him …”

  “After I told you to?” Blist reminds her.

  “Sure. If you want to go literal, but fae it all I couldn’t sleep for a week. What in the fae happened to him?”

  “Don’t know.” Blist shrugs. “Don’t need to think about it.” He shivers. “It’s creepy, isn’t it?”

  Xury nods as her smile expands. “Totally deserves it though.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Now what
happened to Z?”

  “One of B cubed called her to the office. I haven’t seen her since yesterday, and if you haven’t …”

  I sink back. It’s worse than the other spell. At least all witches, warlocks and witchlocks knew I was in the vicinity. I step back further. “I truly am alone.” No, I shake myself off and wipe away the tears. I have to channel my inner Xury. Pixie up.

  I jump up and down and wave my hands frantically. “Xury? Blist? Can’t you hear me? I’m standing right in front of you.”

  Blist instantly looks worried. “If they’ve done another curse on her …”

  “Like Curse Number 36?” Xury uses air quotes when she speaks, and she never does that.

  What the fae?

  Blist blushes. “I think it’s cute she doesn’t want me to know.”

  “You know about my crush, Blist?” Can I say mortify? I put my hands over my face and can feel the heat of my embarrassment rise to color my cheeks. “When did you find out?”

  “What is the curse really?”

  I grab my hair and twirl it around my finger. “Fae. Fae. Fae.”

  “I think it’s something with her hair,” Xury says.

  I quickly let go of my hair.

  “You notice how she twirls it whenever we tease her about it.”

  Blist smiles. “I like when she does that.”

  Son of a banshee.

  Xury puts her hand on Blist’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”

  I sigh. So glad they can’t see me since I’m practically melting just because Xury can touch Blist.

  Xury’s expression quickly becomes devious. “I will help only if you promise me you’ll finally tell her that you’re in love with her.”

  My mouth falls open, and I’m glad my jaw doesn’t unhinge and fall to the ground shattering into a thousand pieces. I shake my head. “I’m sorry? What the fae did you just say?”

  Blist looks down at the ground. “What’s the point? We can’t … she’s a witch. I’m a shifter. It’s against the rules.”

  “Says who?” Xury puts her hands up like someone or something will answer her. “When I rule this realm …” She pauses and then looks down. “This is usually the time when Z starts laughing.”

  She thinks about it which for Xury takes a millisecond since her Pixie brain runs on pure sugar water. “You can run away together.” She practically swoons as she clasps her hands as if it’s all settled. “How romantic.”

  Blist rolls his eyes. “Focus, pixie. We’re at the Academy. We can’t leave until our studies are up. I’m on the counselor track so I have another twelve years.”

  “Twelve years?” Xury waves that off. “Shave half off that. You’re an empath. You won’t have to learn how to read the signs of all the species. You’ll just know it.”

  Blist thinks about it. “Maybe, but Zalia hasn’t declared yet. What if she wants to go for a specialty? That’ll take hundreds of years.”

  Xury shrugs and then her eyes dance. “You can meet in secret behind bookcases and stuff.”

  “And what about her fated soul mate?”

  Xury’s upper lip juts to the stratosphere. “Don’t mention his name to me. Ever.” Suddenly Xury grabs her stomach. “Did I ever tell you how much I hate witchlocks?”

  Blist nods. “Me too.” His face contorts in anger as he looks Xury up and down. “Not too crazy about pixies. All that sugar. It’s not natural. You’re like a hummingbird. Might as well flutter about the gardens.”

  She hisses and steps back before her body tenses. “You literally become a cat. Stalk and ambush your prey. How long until you kill us all?”

  “Pixie,” Blist hisses as his eyes start to change.

  Xury’s pixie posse swooshes in, grabs her and drags her back inside the classroom and slams the door.

  Oh no. “What is happening?”

  “There she is,” someone screams. I look over the balcony and see a group of witchlocks on the floor directly beneath us. They wave and point at me. This is totally fae’d up.

  Blist looks at the crowd quickly approaching, and his skin begins to shimmer.

  I move around Blist and run the other way to lure the witchlocks away from him or vice versa.

  I have to get to the King and Queen. The Queen is obviously deranged, but the King might help. He’d have to help reverse the curse.

  A crackle comes over the loudspeaker. “Attention students. This is headmaster and headwitch Ms. Guthy.”

  I roll my eyes and sigh. She’s been headmaster and headwitch since the opening of the academy two thousand years ago. Given that and the fact that the microphone and loud speaker system has been genetically matched only to respond to her means she’s the only one who has ever used it.

  “For the safety of our students, faculty and staff, this is a mandatory announcement …”

  I run up to the fourth floor and hide behind one of the giant statues of the King and Queen.

  “For the foreseeable future, pixies …” she pauses to giggle. “All the beautiful and handsome pixies will be relegated to the third floor.” She giggles again before clearing her throat. “We will wait.”

  I creep from my hiding place and look over the balcony. Doors and windows open from all over the school as pixies rush towards the third floor.

  The headpixie quickly does a head count. There are currently twelve hundred and forty-two pixies at the Academy. It took him less than three seconds to account for each one. “Gotta love their sugar intake.” There’s a collective sigh of relief when everyone is there. “Good, at least Xury is safe.”

  I return to the hiding spot.

  “All shifters …” Ms. Guthy stops to cough and spit. It’s so loud over the speakers that it echoes throughout school and sounds like a monster invasion. “Shifters, including but not limited to dragons, felines, canines, bears and the like must meet your keepers who will guide you to the below floors where you will remain until further notice. The shifters have three minutes. Any found after that will be prosecuted …”

  Ms. Guthy clears her throat. “Excuse me. Persecuted. Wait …” Sounds of papers being shuffled come out over the entire school. “One or the other or both. There, that should satisfy legal.”

  Again, I creep back out and peer over the balcony. I don’t see Blist anywhere. Surely he’s able to get to the below ground floors fast. He’s super smart. Hopefully one of the other shifters will find him if he’s not already there. He’s their natural leader. He can’t look for me. If anything happens to him … I can’t let my mind go there. Blist has been in my life forever. I cannot imagine what my life would have been without him or Xury.

  “Pure faeries will need to remain aloft for the time being and will most likely not be harmed.”

  A few faeries hover above me with wide eyes.

  “Most likely?”

  They look at me and fly off fast.

  There’s silence for a few minutes, and I wonder if Ms. Guthy has lost focus or consciousness. She screams which wakes up the entire school. “Hybrids must be secured into their holding cells.”

  “What?” Did I hear that right? Holding cells for hybrids? They are so rare and feared I didn’t realize any went to the academy. How is that possible?

  “All other species must make your way to the areas originally designated as your safe place. Ghosts must remain wherever you are currently residing. Assuming you do not scare without provocation, you will be unharmed.”

  So, Scin will be safe. Hopefully.

  “Concerning our most honored species … witches, warlocks and of course the very fragile witchlocks …”

  I lean forward. Maybe if all are in one location, I can just avoid that one area. Treat it like a hazmat scene.

  “Feel free to mingle wherever you choose, but please keep your harassment of the other species to a minimum.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  I hear a commotion around me, and I find the source. A couple of witchlocks focus their bows and arrows on a gr
oup of faeries trying to seek refuge in the highest point of the atrium.

  “Hey, faeheads.”

  They jump when they see me. They smile and then raise their weapons at me.

  “What the fae?” I duck as an arrow barely misses me and almost hits the two faeries behind me. “Go,” I say quickly. “Hide in the fourth realm. They think it’s haunted and won’t go past the bogs.”

  They nod and flee.

  I get up, but the arrow fiends are gone. “You’d better run.” Raks and his group round the corner and see me. I look around. There’s no escape.

  Raks leads the way and falls to his knees. “My love. I have found you at last.”

  “She’s not yours,” Dray shoves Raks. “She’s not mine. Zalia belongs to her.” He shakes his head. “To me she belongs of.” He shakes his head again.

  “For the love of all pixies. I have urgent business for the King and Queen.”

  Silence falls. Raks puts his hand over his heart. “I vow to see you to the King and Queen with my life.” He puts his hand out. “Take my life. It is but yours to dispose of. Take it my love. My life. My everything.”

  “Okay, dial it way back. I mean to the off switch.” Leave it to the cousins to put full on cheesy melodrama in their curses. I study Raks. Gorgeous? Check. Supposedly my fated soul mate? Check. But since finding out that Blist is in love with me, Raks is just another witchlock who right now is annoying the fae out of me.

  The loud speaker crackles again indicating Ms. Guthy’s done before it comes back on just as quick. “Attention students. This is headmaster and headwitch Ms. Guthy again.”

  Moans and groans echo throughout campus. All the witchlocks caught under the spell are still sane enough to roll their eyes.

  “I failed to mention that the other species are currently at war,” she says this almost too quickly. “Oh, and the most important announcement is that everyone else is currently at war with all witches, warlocks and witchlocks. To this, we will not stand. Arm yourselves. Take precautions. We cannot lose a single witch, warlock or witchlock. Other species are expendable. Proceed accordingly.”

  “What is happening?”

  “Oh, students, faculty and staff … Please pay heed to the dragon shifters. They are most valuable on the open market and can be used for debt. As are the hybrids and the two jaguar shifters.”