by JK Ensley
“What would it matter? You haven’t even truly looked upon me,” he pouted. “My name could be this or that. A fat lot of good it’d do. You wouldn’t know the difference if ever we ran into each other again.”
“Hmm… Well, now I’m puzzled. Which is it? This, or That?”
“Wha… what are you talking about?”
“Your name. Which is it? You said it could be This or it could be That. Is it a riddle?”
“Pssht. Now you’re just being silly.”
“But isn’t it much more fun than being so terribly serious?”
“You’re a strange lady,” he grumbled. “You look funny, too.”
“Well, now. First I talk funny and now I look funny. Are we playing a game of swapping compliments? I’m afraid you’ll lose at this rate.” I smiled again, I couldn’t help myself. This little Fairy was turning into too much fun.
“It wasn’t a compliment and it wasn’t derogatory, either. You just look and talk different than anyone I’ve ever met before.”
“Ah now, that’s much better. Different I can live with. Funny sort of hurt my feelings. But different is good. I’ve always been called different.”
“Is it because of your hair? Or how you’re all… strange and glowy?”
I laughed. “Now I’m strange? This just keeps getting better and better. Am I such an oddity? Will you cage me and require coin for a viewing?”
“Umm, I can’t understand you anymore.”
I smiled again. “Apologies.”
It didn’t seem as if my little visitor was going to be leaving any time soon. So I sat up and stretched my arms, leaned forward slightly, and dove into the pristine pool. Scooping up a few pearls, I resurfaced right in front of him.
“Would you like one? They’re quite beautiful and perfectly round. Here. This one seems to change colors depending on how you turn it. Would you like this one?”
He cautiously took the lovely pearl but kept his keen eyes focused on me. “So, you’re a Mermaid. I’ve never seen one lying in the sun before.”
“I’ve been called a Mermaid many times before. But, no. I’m not a Mermaid,” I said teasingly. “What do you mean? Have you truly seen a Mermaid before? I mean, well, one not lying out in the sun.”
“Of course,” he huffed haughtily. “The fact you obviously haven’t only proves what I said before. You’re not from here.”
“I never claimed to be.” I flew up out of the water and gently landed behind him.
He gasped. “You… you do have wings.”
“Ahh, now you’ve seen mine. It’s only fair you show me yours.” I winked at him, mischievously.
“But I-I d-don’t…”
I laughed. “Calm yourself. I was only playing around. But I would like to know your name. Mine is Jenevier Olesia Embarr. I am very pleased to meet you, good sir.”
I bowed low before him and he took a trembling step back.
I grabbed his tiny forearm. “Careful now. I don’t wish you to fall into my pond, unawares.”
He gasped. “Are you going to eat me?”
“Eat you? Eww, now why would I want to go and do a thing like that?” I squeezed his arm. “Besides, there’s not enough meat on you for even a snack. Where did you come from?”
“I-I came fr-from Lycini.”
“Lycini? Never heard of it.”
“It’s just on the other side of the west mountain, across the green expanse.”
“Hmm, so you’ve traveled quite a long way. What did you come here for?”
My question was met with only silence.
“Oooh, it’s a secret then. Well now, if what you’re seeking is here in my place, then you shall have to ask me for it. You’re not a thief, are you?”
“No, Ma’am.”
“Well, if you plan on asking something from me, you’ll have to tell me what it is. And if you tell me what it is, then it won’t be a secret anymore.”
“I guess not,” he mumbled.
“And if it will no longer be a secret then, why should it be a secret now?”
“Umm…”
“Besides, if I knew what you wanted from me, I could help you look for it.”
“True…” He drummed his fingers across his pointed little chin.
“Suit yourself. I’m going for a swim. But know this. Your welcome here isn’t indefinite. I’ll only abide you snooping around for so long before I get cross with you.”
“Ack, it’s a green stone. About yea big,” he explained, using his thumb and forefinger. “And it has tiny purple veins running all through it,” he said quickly, nervously. “It’s shaped like a triangle and the top point is almost the same color as your skin.”
“See there? That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?”
“Umm… The Queen will be dreadfully angry with me,” he fretted, wringing his little hands. “I’ll tell her you were going to season a stew with me.”
“Season a stew?” I raised a single eyebrow. “So you’re a would-be thief and a premeditated liar.”
“No, no. I’m just a messenger on an errand.” He began fidgeting; cutting his beady little eyes this way and that. “I told her to send one of her guards. But she refused. Said she didn’t want everyone to know about this place. Since I was the only one who’d already been here before—”
“You mean my place?” I cut short his rambling. “You’ve been to my place before?”
“Y-yes.”
“How did you come to find it?”
“It was purely by accident, I swear. I was running from…” He paused.
“Running from what? A giant Angel, perhaps. With long silver hair and billowy wings?”
He gasped, his eyes went wide. “You know him?”
“Ahh, I know him well. Tell me this, little Fairy. Why was he chasing you?”
“I don’t know. I did nothing wrong.” He crossed his skinny arms over his tiny chest.
“Hmm, it’s not right to say a summons came down for you when you’d done nothing wrong.”
“A summons?”
“He caught you. There’s no way around that.” My eyes narrowed, threateningly. “What was your punishment, little one? What did Vittorio have to do to you?”
“He… he removed my wings.”
“Ahh, now I see. You must’ve done something quite terrible indeed. A Fairy, having lost his wings? It must be a great shame to you.”
Silence again.
“Then did your crime have anything to do with this peculiar stone your Queen sent you here to retrieve?”
“Y-yes. I took it from the Mermaids. But I lost it here when the Angel snatched me.”
“You were severely punished and lost your wings. Yet you would take the stone again? What do you think your punishment will be this time? I should think Vittorio wouldn’t be so easy with you a second time. I know him well. He’s vicious and deadly.” I gave him an evil little smile.
“Ack…” He started fidgeting nervously again, wringing his hands.
“What is it you could possibly fear more than angering a giant Death Angel?”
“D-D-Death Angel?”
“Yes, if need be,” I said. “What did he tell you before? Why did you lose your wings?”
The strange little man snubbed his pointy nose up at me. “He didn’t tell me why. He just chased me in here and tore them off.”
“You lie.” Without another word, Vashti stood before the terrified Fairy. Complete with wings, claws, and glowing ruby eyes. “Would you like to change your answer? Or shall you stick with the disgustingly perverse version you just spit out?”
“Aiyee! Don’t harm me. I’ll tell! I’ll tell!”
“Start with your name,” I hissed.
“It’s Shaemon, Shaemon Green. Everyone just calls me Shae. Our Queen sent me on a quest to obtain a piece of the trilogy stone. She already has the earth stone. I was sent for the water stone. And my friend Raymon, he was sent to retrieve the sky stone.”
“Then, wherein did your q
uest turn sour, little man? Or was the intent soiled from the beginning?”
“Huh?”
“Ugh…” I rolled my eyes. “I have been in many places, among many races. My speech has become a spackled deed to them all. Let me ask you a different way.” I sighed. “Okay, so you were sent to get this stone. What did you do to warrant punishment from a Death Angel? Or was it the mission itself, and not your actions, that was deemed to be wrong?”
“Oh, well… I had to steal the stone.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not like I could just buy one.”
“No. Stealing alone wouldn’t have cost you your wings. Stop dancing around my question and tell me. I will find out sooner or later,” I warned. “I’m certain you’d do well for yourself to make it sooner.”
“The three stones together, placed within the scepter, shifts all the magic of Lyra to the wand and the one who wields it,” he said.
I started laughing then. Not just regular laughter, belly-holding laughter. “Are you serious? Or are you mad?”
“What do you find so humorous?” he huffed.
“Tell me this, little one. Are Fairies the guardians of the earth stone, Mermaids guardians of the water stone, and some mountain dwellers guardians of the sky stone?”
“Why, yes. That’s it, precisely!” His eyes grew impossibly wide.
“And the Queen of the Fairies, she wants to rule over the Mermaids and the mountain dwellers?”
“Why, yes. How did you know?”
“You have got to be kidding me.” I rolled my eyes again. “Tell me one thing more… Why?”
“Why? Why what?”
“Why does your Queen want to rule them all?”
“Well… because… because…”
“Because she wants all other races to bow down only to her? Because she wants to steal all magic and keep it in her own greedy little hands? Because she feels that fairness and equality are unjust and evil things?”
“I’m not sure. I never really thought about—”
“Do the Mermaids or the mountain dwellers oppress you in any way? Do they steal your offspring? Burn your homes? Rape your women?”
“No. No, of course not!”
“Then, I ask you again… Why?”
His pointy little face went pale, his eyes betraying a faint moment of clarity.
“Listen to me well, little one. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This tale, your tale, your quest, is as old as time itself. Every race faces this same conflict. Have you no storytellers, history keepers, magic balls, or even television? Over and over, the tragic ending never changes… epic failure. Your quest is folly. I refuse to let you have the stone. I’ll return it to the Mermaids so that peace and tranquility can always rule Lyra. Don’t let your land fall into war, my friend. Take my words back to your people. Replace your Queen with one who is worthy. Then go. Take a wife and have many little Fairy babies. Let war and strife plague the other layers. Leave Lyra a paradise.”
Chapter 32
Lyra
(LYE-rah)
My mind went back to my homeland of Ashgard. I thought about the peace that once reigned there… and how one man could strike fear into the hearts of so many. I wondered if it’d changed since my exile. I thought about the wonderful things called movie theatres on layer eight, and the little boxes called televisions. They had replaced the traveling storytellers on that layer—rendering them nearly obsolete—but they were amazing in what they accomplished. On those blank screens, history came alive. Dreams were brought out into the light. Imaginations were allowed to run free. A whole layer, privy to such vast knowledge. Yet, it seemed to cause them equal parts harm and good. Pound for pound, dose for dose.
If we only knew then what we know now.
I knew where the odd little stone was the whole time. I’d seen it. Even picked it up, when Vittorio had first presented me with my lovely little hideaway. It was in the pool exactly under the downward torrent of my magical waterfall. Then my mind switched to Vittorio holding my hands as I stood upon his feet while we danced. I could no more temper the smile those memories caused than I could pluck the stars down from the heavens. I had been blessed. Forget all the bad decisions and misplaced intentions. I had been truly and irrevocably blessed by God.
I had known love and kindness everywhere I’d roamed. In Ashgard, I was loved by more people than I could even call to mind at the moment. In Vanahirdem, I was loved by the whole ethereal city at but a glance. On layer eight, I was loved by many more than I even knew. Children, parents, and whole families held me in high regard. Even in hell, eternal darkness, love found me. I had nothing to do with it. None of it was caused by my own actions or worth. I was simply blessed. And today, well, today I was finally thankful for it. Forget all the pain that normally accompanies it. Being loved is a glorious and just thing.
One oddly curious thing about love, it’s highly contagious. It spreads purposefully from creature to creature. It opens their hearts, steps inside, and they realize it not until it is too late. Some even try to guard themselves from it, hide from it, build walls to keep it out. But love freely goes where it will. No obstacles or power can halt its swelling tide.
I had heard it once said… We do not claim love. It chooses each man as it will. Truer words on the subject could not be spoken.
“I love… Love!” I laughed out loud, holding my arms wide as I spun in a circle.
“It’s a glorious thing, is it not?”
The liquidy voice was enticing. I turned toward the sea. My thought-filled journey had led my wandering feet to my destination much quicker than I had anticipated.
The strange creature speaking to me from the water blinked its oversized dull eyes with two different sets of lids. The inner ones closed from the outside corners in. And the outer set closed from the bottom to the top.
“Hello there.” I smiled as I spoke. “I’m looking for the leader of the Mermaids. Your Queen, perhaps. I have something which I believe was stolen from your kind. I wish to return it.”
The Mermaid only blinked her curious eyes again and remained silent.
“Okay, well, I’ll just keep on my way then. It was very nice to meet you. Farewell now.”
Sooo creepy, I thought.
I was completely unnerved by the aquatic being’s eyes, but equally puzzled… since it seemed to have no mouth. Yet, I know it spoke.
The main entrance to the watery world of Lyra’s Mermaids was unmistakable. Two large spheres made entirely of lustrous pearls stood sentinel before a tiny walkway balanced atop the sea. It led to a simple platform, floating and bobbing with the non-ending ripples and movements of the constantly changing water. The tiny pathway didn’t look particularly safe or stable for a human. Its design was obviously intended for the diminutive races populating Lyra. I waited, but no one came.
“Mermaids of Lyra, hear my words,” I called out. “I am here to return your sacred stone of power. I know it calls to you. Yet you remain hidden from me. I will not play your games nor will I obey your customs. Show your face and claim your treasure. Cower in your watery hovels and do without. It’ll be your grave, not mine.”
“There is a secret buried within these depths. You will see it exhumed and set to purpose, Angel.” The voice came from no visible creature.
“Then I fear we are both forsaken, little fish,” I snapped.
“From whence comes thy fury? Are thine wings such a heavy burden? Does compassion and love not reside within granite heart?”
“No games, no riddles, little fishy. I bear heart’s desire within granite palm. Fetch it and be satisfied. Tarry and be damned.”
“Your speech is foreign to us.”
I laughed. “It’s a plethora of many voices and times. As is my appearance. Hinder me no further. I am here for peace, not war. You will not draw me further into your vain political disturbances. My act alone serves to display soul’s intent. Patience is another matter. Mine is spent.”
A curious creature appeared fr
om the lapping waters and rested upon the floating platform.
“What has changed within you, Angel? We heard your thoughts of joy and love as you neared our tranquil sea. Yet bitterness and rage are our welcome.”
“I came only to do you a favor,” I said. “Yet you hide from me and dance within my head. This is the source of mine anger. If you wish something of me, speak the words and see your desires sated. But play not within my mind and glean untold ghosts from proper tombs. Your attempted violation is unforgivable.”
“But… how did you know? No one has ever—”
“That’s what you say to me? How did you know of our deceitful treachery? You’re absent apologies and demand only more answers? Perhaps you no longer desire my gift. Then I shall keep it as proper reward for kind deed.” I turned to leave.
“Apologies. From the heavens, apologies, kind warrior. Please accept in return for your noble benevolence, this bauble. I have seen you will have great need of it upon your travels.”
Another Mermaid appeared at the water’s edge, holding up a delicate shell, milky in appearance but translucent in the light. I exchanged stone for shell and saw then the creature did indeed have a mouth. The Mermaid smiled, showing hundreds of ebony needles for teeth. She spoke not, only flipped her head. Causing the slimy seaweed that was her hair to fall over one bulbous, waxy green eye.
“Umm… Gratitude, Mermaid.”
My stomach turned as the familiar word rolled off my tongue toward the unfamiliar, almost scary looking head bobbing along with the calm waves. The look of a real Mermaid was unnerving and foul to my thoughts. But I kept them closely guarded against their siren call, which still begged to be let loose within my mind.
“My gratitude to you and your kind. I hope peace will forever reign in Lyra,” I said with a bow.
I couldn’t possibly walk away fast enough to still my racing heart. So I took to the sky in but a breath.
“You hold a great treasure, Angel. Guard it and it will serve you well.”
The liquid words stuck with me as I escaped the most uncomfortable place I’d ever chosen to visit. I had no intention of returning. My only response to the warning was the cold chills now pulsing through my gliding body.