Once Upon a Faerie

New Beginnings

They said not to worry about bringing any clothes or anything like that. Mum said to just take a few keepsakes, so I packed a family photo and a photo of Lucy and I. I also decided to bring along the necklace Mum brought me for my birthday. With really nothing to pack, I went downstairs to say my goodbyes to Keith and Tom.

These goodbyes were even harder. Keith was acting too casual as he thought he would see me again soon. But this just made Mum cry even harder, knowing that it probably isn't true. Mum mentioned the other night, although possible, travelling between the two realms isn't easy for their magic, so I doubt it would be happening often, if at all. Tom gave me a quick hug and then scurried away to his room. I thought I saw some tears well in his eyes, so maybe he didn't want anyone seeing him cry. Mum, on the other hand, was a mess. She couldn't stop crying, which made me cry. I think Michael and Ares were feeling slightly awkward because of it.

"Stay safe, stick with Michael and Ares, trust no one," Mum said in my ear. I just looked at her.

"You are going to love it there, it's beautiful, but there's always bad people anywhere you go," She continued.

"I'll be careful, don't worry," I replied.

We said our final farewells before I turned to Michael and Ares to let them know that I think I'm ready to leave.

For some reason, I never bothered to ask how we were going to get to the faerie world. I assumed some type of magic, but I was left very confused when we got into a car and started driving out of town. Both Michael and Ares seemed amused by my confusion. However, I left in almost 30 minutes before telling me.

"This is a hire car. We have to return it first," Michael mused.

"Oh," was all I replied. The reality of the whole situation had started to set in, leaving me quite sad about leaving my family and friends. Ares seemed to notice my mood and gave me a reassuring smile, and rested his hand on my knee. After another half an hour, curiosity got the best of me.

"Why so far away there are many hire cars in town?" I asked.

"This was the closest to where we move between worlds," Michael said.

"There's only a few spots in the world that you can access the faerie world and the same over in our world," Ares continued to explain. "And only a few people know about them. Otherwise, you would get all sorts of creatures heading over here, which would not be good for the human world,"

"Why have them at all then?" I asked

"I don't know, that's just the way it is."

"Still, why drive? Couldn't you use magic to teleport to my house?" I thought out loud.

"I did when I first arrived, but our magic isn't as strong in the human world, so Ares didn't want to drain himself, so he opted for this way. Plus, it helped keep up appearances, " Michael said.

"Oh, I see, I still have a lot to learn by the sounds of it,"

"Don't worry, we are here every step of the way," Ares said.

I decided to take the rest of the journey in silence as I was still sad about the situation, and I didn't want to overwhelm myself all at once. This didn't stop Michael and Ares telling me some things about our arrival, though. They said although they havnt told anyone, it has never been forgotten by their people about the princess to be returned on her eighteenth birthday, that with the sudden disappearance of the High Lord and his son for a week they believe people will be assuming that I'm arriving any time soon. They anticipate being able to keep me hidden for a few days to allow me to settle in. However, after that, there probably will have to be an announcement and surely a party to celebrate. They explained that I would take up residence in the summer court until I felt comfortable enough with everything to take up my position as Queen and move to the palace. They both seemed very vague about those details, and I got the feeling that there was something they weren't telling me. From my previous conversations, I knew that currently, my uncle was ruling the kingdom in my absence, but that was all I knew really. They also expected my looks to fully transform once getting into the Fae world, hoping that being in the presence of magic will completely undo the spell that was making me look human. They also said that with the change, my powers will start to come in also. However, due to no one having done this before, they are not sure how quick it will happen and how it will affect me physically. They reassured me they would be there every step of the way and will start training as soon as it happens.

Eventually, we arrived to return the hire car, and luckily, it was only a short walk to the portal. We stood in the middle of a forest, seemingly lost, but the boys seemed confident that this was the place. I looked around and noticed nothing unusual about where we were and not sure what was about to happen. It kind of reminded me of Harry Potter, and when he tried to get through the wall, it didn't happen at first, so I was worried that would happen to me.

"OK, are you ready?" Michael asked. more of a rhetorical question as if I said no, I doubt he would've taken me back. I just nodded in response.

"Oh and one last thing!. No one knows about the portholes to the human world so people just think you were in hiding in our world, for the humans sake we should keep it that way" Michael said with a serious tone. I again just nodded on response.

"OK, then just hold our hands and close your eyes. We will do the rest, " I did as they asked. I closed my eyes and waited. It felt like minutes had passed with nothing happening, but suddenly I felt weightless. I kept my eyes shut, scared to see what was happening.

"OK, you can open them," Ares said. I was confused at first as it felt like we barely moved, and when I slowly opened my eyes, it almost looked exactly the same as where we were before. I thought they were playing a joke on me initially. However, as I scanned around, although everything seemed the same, it wasn't. Everything seemed alive. The colours were brighter if that even makes sense. if I had to explain it, everything seemed so shiny.

"OK, when you're ready, we will teleport you to our place,"

"OK, I think I'm ready," I replied.