“Oh wow.” Gwen stated jubilantly, playing into Mike’s excitement. “Was that very safe?” she questioned the boy but peered at Pete and Jonah through the corner of her eye.
“Tina helped him a bit with getting the animals to “cooperate” just a little.” Tok said.
“Nu uh, Gwenny I tamed them all by myself,” the boy glowered at Tok, who just shrugged and ruffled Mikes hair as he grabbed a protein bar from the cupboard and made his way to the family room. “Art you on watch?” Tok hollered behind him. He kicked off his red and white tennis shoes on the way back by the front door. Tok looked so much like Andrew Gwen thought. All those boys had the same style. Athletic shorts and T-shirts seemed to be the theme.
“Yuuup.” Art bellowed in his deep voice while rummaging through the cupboard for a mid-morning snack. Settling on chocolate chip granola bars, he tossed them out to Jonah Pete and Mike.
“Tina, did you want one?” Jonah asked, holding up his, in a much sweeter tone than Gwen was used to hearing out of her brother.
Tina sweetly responded. “Um no, that’s ok, thanks.” Gwen couldn’t believe her ears. Tina sounded actually…nice. She even smiled. “Let’s go hang out with Tok. Michael maybe there’s some cartoons on.”
“Yessss!” Mike put his arms out and made flying noises all the way into the family room. Jonah and Tina followed.
Stopping just before he reached the hallway Jonah said with aversion, “Gwen, what the hell are you wearing?” he asked examining Gwen’s attire of black spandex and nursing home special of a sweatshirt.
“Why don’t you ask your friend there,” she said, sarcastically smiling.
“What? I think it’s rather stylish,” Tina snipped, her grin matching Gwen’s sarcastic smile. She continued to the hallway, her black V-neck T-shirt and form fitting blue jeans, adorned with perfectly positioned glittery stitching on the back pockets, hugged her curves flawlessly as she swung her sassy hips.
“Now I get it,” Andrew said as he laughed to himself, referring to her odd ensemble.
Gwen was mortified.
“Here.” Pete tossed Gwen a red bag full of what felt like clothes, or at least that’s what she hoped. He had on stylish jeans and a black and red form fitting designer shirt. His hair was the typical messy structured ‘do he always wore. “These will probably be more suitable for practice.”
Gwen stood and tugged at her too small spandex.
“Thanks.” She brushed and tucked her wavy auburn hair behind her ear as she looked inside. It looked like work out attire, for the most part.
“Go ahead and get changed if you want to and meet us outside.” Pete said.
Gwen restrained herself from running to the bathroom to change out of her monstrosity of an outfit. Once inside, she dug through the bag and got a better look at her gifts. Within was around six pairs of black stretchy yoga pants and six brightly colored sports bras with six more coordinating work out tank tops. Feeling the chill already, she scrambled through the bag in search of something warmer. Thankfully, she found two zip-up sports jackets with hoods.
Digging further, she noticed a cream box in the bottom of the bag tied with a shiny red bow. Curious, Gwen couldn’t help but to open it. Underneath gold tissue paper, she found a strapless, form fitting, emerald green cocktail dress that looked…expensive, even for her taste. She held it up to herself in front of the huge floating mirror. She loved it, but wondered why she would need a dress? Gwen assumed that must be the kind of thing they wear in Everland. It looked like it would fit perfectly.
Carefully folding it back up, she tucked it neatly inside the tissue paper and back into the security of the box. Settling on a black sports bra, bright pink tank, and white jacket Gwen dressed quickly. She noticed a pair of tennis shoes and sparkling golden heels with emerald jewels down the strap that daintily surrounded the ankle. She laced up her tennis shoes and took a deep breath. Looking back into the mirror, she talked to herself. “You can do this Gwen. You can…I hope.”
She tossed the red bag on Pete’s bed as she made her way outside. Andrew was waiting for her on the deck stairs.
“Better?” she asked, pointing to her attire.
“Oh I dunno, I guess I kind of liked the grandma sweater,” he said drily.
“I’m sure you did. So where is everyone?”
“Art and Mike are constructing a wooden fort someplace, and everyone else is further out into the woods under the thickest part of the trees. Just in case. You ready?” he asked eyeing her facial expression.
“I guess so.” They began toward the tree line. Andrew took such large steps in comparison to her stride. She had to hustle to keep up with him. “Have you ever seen regals use their abilities?”
Andrew smiled. “Yah. I have. Every regal has an ability, it’s not uncommon like it is to you.”
“Oh.” Gwen said embarrassed. “Well what kind of abilities do they have? Like flying or shooting fire and stuff?”
He grinned larger. “Almost no regals can fly. Some can move objects with their energy though. Some can create a brief shield. Others can manipulate liquid. Some I always thought were cool were the regals who could become like air. Like you can see them, but things pass through them. Now, if they get wet, their ability is useless, but it’s pretty cool to watch.”
“Do the royals have just one power apiece?”
“Yup, most,” Andrew responded.
“What’s Pete’s?”
“I’ll let him show you.” Andrew stopped and reached inside his pocket. He took out a little brown sack similar to the one Pete had shown her in the garden. He sprinkled a little on the back of his hand and inhaled through his nose.
“What are you doing?!” Gwen exclaimed. “Are you doing drugs?”
“What? No,” Andrew laughed. “It’s dust. It enables you to see what’s enchanted. You can sprinkle it onto yourself so you inhale a little but it lasts longer if you snort it.”
“Oh.” Gwen folded her arms across her chest.
“Here hold out your hand palm down.” Andrew sprinkled a little of the white sparkling dust onto Gwen’s hand. “Snort,” he said. Gwen was never into drugs and wondered if her nostril would burn. Closing her eyes she inhaled the dust quickly. Suddenly, up ahead she heard the others. Then they began to form.
Her feet stood frozen. She contemplated turning around. The puffs of hazy smoke that were coming and going with her every breath ceased. She saw a battle scene ahead of her. On the left stood a large lion like creature she gathered was a Mantican, which switched between walking on its hind legs and all fours. On the right, a similar yet slightly smaller Mantican stood in opposition. He was a darker brown than the one on the left and seemed to jump and leap around more than the other. Behind the one on the left, Gwen saw Pete, standing with his eyes closed, hands extended. She watched as he whirled his hand through the chilly air. He seemed to be fighting with an invisible weapon of some sort.
Suddenly, a sword came flying through the air, chasing the smaller of the two. He leapt just in time for the sword to miss but that didn’t stop the blade from following him. Through twists and turns, the feisty beast snarled and batted the sword with his blade like claws. Tings of metal on metal echoed in the forest. Finally, the sought after Mantican caught the sword and hurled it at Pete with a loud growl. Gwen’s stomach knotted as the blade went whizzing through the air but was suddenly stopped by a giant paw like hand. The larger beast had sprung up and grabbed the weapon, hurling it back at his opponent. The blade stopped inches from the smaller beast’s neck, as Pete lowered his hand. The battle appeared to be over, and the two Manticans began fighting with each other, tumbling off into the trees.
Andrew shouted, “Looking good, boys!” as he clapped and ran toward Pete excitedly. Panting, Pete held his knees as if he had just run a marathon. Andrew slapped Pete on the back approvingly and Pete smiled. He motioned for Gwen to come and join them. She took a deep breath and began tromping through the tall grass to reach the pair.<
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“Where did those Manticans go?” Gwen asked, hesitantly surveying her surroundings.
“Tok and Koli? Oh their just wrestling over there somewhere.” Andrew motioned to the trees. “Seriously Pete, your skills are getting mad awesome!”
“That was Tok and Koli?” Gwen attempted to keep her cool, but the boys could sense her fear.
Andrew explained, “Yah, it was Tok and Koli. The smaller hyper one is-”
“Koli” Gwen answered. “Yah I can tell now.”
“You alright Gwen?” Pete asked breathily.
“Yah. It’s just when you turned Andrew you seemed…furious. It was like the anger was what made you turn…are they angry?”
“No we can turn when we want to for the most part. There are just times when we don’t have much control over it. Like when our sworn ones are in danger, or when our second moon is full and the pirates are at their strongest. Then we are forced.”
“Oh, so that’s where the full moon werewolf thing comes in?” Gwen wondered.
“Yah, those stories got really messed up over time. Not this worlds full moon, our full moon, and the second one at that. It happens once a year.”
“And let’s not forget how pretty you guys are,” Pete put his arm around Andrew and tapped his cheek.
“Yah, let’s not forget that load of-”
“Are you guys going to train or not? I have wayyy more important things to do here than watch you three talk,” Tina hollered from a boulder not too far away. “I’ve got to meet Ashton and go over the materials list at three don’t forget.” She appeared to be sitting on the rock, painting her nails and giggling with Jonah, all the while eyeing Pete protectively.
“Yes Tina, we know,” Andrew rolled his eyes and hollered back.
“I’d watch it Mr.” Pete laughed. “She can be ornery. Wouldn’t want to wake up with a tail or something.”
“Yah, yah.” Andrew said brushing off Pete’s warning. “So let’s do this I’m ready to get a good work out in.”
“Okay we need to find Gwen’s ability first.” Pete said. “Andrew you need to turn and we’ll go from there.”
Without another word, Andrew closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He hit the ground and the snapping started. First his shoulders, then his knees and feet, and through the twisting and turning he became her protector. He roared like a lion, and growled like a dog.
Gwen stepped back, afraid, yet not as terrified as she was in the gym. He raised a mammoth paw to his mark. It’s alright Gwen. I’m still me inside. Talk to me.
Gwen raised her hand slowly to her chest. Wow. This is kind of…scary. She thought staring up at Andrew who stood on his huge hind legs. She felt Pete’s hands take hold of her shoulder from behind.
“It’s alright. It’s still Andrew, unfortunately.” Pete laughed, and Andrew grunted louder than he expected, causing Gwen to shutter. She could feel her body break out in a cold sweat. Andrew, sensing her fear, lowered himself onto all fours. He slowly walked closer to Gwen, his massive paws thumping on the packed dirt of the forest floor. Soon they were face to face. Something in his eyes was still Andrew, though she couldn’t place what. His teeth protruded upward over his giant dog like lips. The same coarse fur covered his body. He was larger than Gwen remembered him in the gym. His fur was thickest around his neck reminding Gwen somewhat of a lion’s mane. Gwen reached her hand out to touch his coat, but remembering the last painful touch she quickly brought her hand down.
Go ahead. We can touch in this form. He told her. She brought her hand up to his face and began stroking his mane. It was softer than she thought it would be. Not as bad as you thought, huh? Andrew asked.
Gwen shook her head no. Somewhere in that moment, Gwen didn’t see the repulsive frightening beast she did before. She saw her protector for the first time. He could see it in her eyes and felt relieved.
“Hey are we late for the petting zoo?” Koli asked as he ran up to the three wearing only his running shorts followed by Tok..
“Yah if I’d have known that I’d have stayed turned.” Tok kidded.
Gwen put her hands down, feeling self-conscious.
Andrew looked at the others speaking to them through their Mantican connections. “Alright we’ll turn back and you can practice on us. Come on.” Tok said.
I’m going to try out my new strength ok? Pete’ll get you started. Andrew said through their connection.
Gwen nodded and Andrew took off. He ran on all fours, scaling a tree like it was a mere ant hill. He bounded from tree top to tree top as if it were a game until out of sight. She could hear cracking and snapping as the other two took on their animal form.
“Okay now to find your ability.” Pete said. “This way, Tina has to help us.” They met Tina and Jonah at the boulder.
The spicy fairy stood in front of Gwen. “You need to clear your thoughts,” she said. “Close your eyes. It should come naturally.” Gwen closed her eyes, as Tina drifted upwards, her silky wings fluttering. She placed her hand on Gwen’s forehead and threw her own head back, whispering a language Gwen couldn’t understand. She began speaking barely audible and became increasing louder until she was almost shouting. She spun around Gwen like a tornado repeating the same unfamiliar words.
Finally, she stopped and placed her tiny feet back on the ground. Looking into Gwen’s eyes, she seemed to be searching for something. Gwen peered anxiously back, noticing the change in Tina’s irises. It went from her typical bright green to a shiny gold. They held one another’s gaze for what seemed like a long time. At last, the fairies eyes returned to their normal color and she turned to Pete.
“I don’t see anything.” Tina looked confused.
“What? You have to be doing it wrong Tina.” Pete said nonchalantly. “Is her mind clear? Maybe she didn’t get enough sleep since her overload.”
“Well she should have, Andrew took on almost all of the pain so she could sleep.” Tina retorted smartly.
It made sense to her now. That’s why Andrew was so tired. Gwen felt guilty, even though she had no control over what he chose to do when she was asleep.
“Guys, just chill out.” Jonah piped up from the back. “Should you try it again Tina?”
“No it won’t do any good, I am telling you all I did it correctly. This isn’t my first rodeo.” She firmly stated. It was true Tina was one of the most powerful fairies in Everland.
“Gwen, do you feel anything at all?” Pete finally addressed her.
“Not really.” She admitted.
“Okay, I’ll see if I can help you. Close your eyes again and breathe deeply. Try and feel the energy in your chest. It’ll feel like you’re going down the tallest drop of a rollercoaster.” He stepped behind Gwen, pressing her body against his. Gwen could feel her cheeks burn. How would she ever clear her mind now, she thought. He placed his hands on her hips. Tina folded her arms, obviously getting aggravated.
“Just relax,” Pete calmly said to Gwen. She couldn’t figure out what to do with her hands so she settled on placing them at her sides. “Try again,” he instructed to Tina. She began the ritual once more. Floating around the two, Gwen felt something. It was as if a small shock entered her body. Her stomach fluttered just as Pete said it would. “I feel something,” she whispered.
“Hold on to it,” Pete whispered back. Tina abruptly stopped and stared into her eyes again.
The fairy looked bewildered. “I see….you, Pete.”
“Me? What’s that supposed to mean,” Pete asked but just as the words came out of his mouth Gwen held out her hand and suddenly a small nearby rock was hovering in front of them.
“She’s a Telekinetic, like me,” Pete smiled.
Gwen dropped her hand and the rock fell. She felt as if she just got done running a race. Panting she turned to Pete. “We have the same ability?” Gwen inquired.
“Looks like it,” Pete said proudly.
“Cool,” Jonah said, grinning from ear to ear. “This is awesome!”
“Unless what?” Pete asked.
Tina shook her head. “It hasn’t happened in a really long time, I doubt she has it.” Tina looked suspiciously at Gwen.
“Has what?” Pete questioned with angst.
“I think she’s a borrower.” Tina stated, stunned.
“What’s a borrower?” Gwen asked.
Pete looked worried. “A borrower or a taker?”
“Well let’s see. Move something.” Tina suggested.
Pete held up his hand and moved a log across the grassy field.
Tina looked relieved. “Well she’s not a taker…yet.”
“Taker? Borrower? What do you mean? Am I going to be okay?” Gwen brushed and tucked her hair, nervously. She looked at Jonah, who appeared to share her fears.
Pete explained. “Yah, you’re more than fine. You’re actually pretty amazing. You are one of very, very few royals with this ability. If we’re correct, you can borrow other regals abilities through touch.”
“Does it have any effect on you?” she questioned Pete.
“Not really. You only borrowed a piece for a little while. Not much is known about borrowers and takers. Like I said, they’re extremely rare.”
“Try again,” Jonah suggested wide eyed.
Gwen looked from Pete to Tina.
“Go ahead; it’s actually a good idea. We’ll need to experiment with this anyways.” Pete said. Tina shook her head in agreement.
She closed her eyes and searched for that fluttering feeling way down in the depths of her chest. The others stood around her, watching anxiously. It was gone.
“I don’t think I have it anymore,” she revealed.
“Let me see if I can tell a difference.” Pete raised his hand to a passing robin. The bird continued to flap its steel gray wings attempting to override the force that had come upon it. Pete slowly lowered the animal out of the blue sky to his finger. There it sat until he released it from his invisible hold.
Darlings Page 9