Nature's Rivals: A Fairy's Mission

Suspicion or Intrigue?

NICKI FAY 

No morning is peaceful at our humble abode, Lia made sure. Our breakfast table was the stage for her paranoid, finicky, and overbearing monologues, scheduled 6am daily. It was the worst production ever, but every morning I was forced to sit through it. She seems to like asserting her age and authority over me every time she gets the chance. I already had her speech memorized in my head. 'Nicki Fay, you are not taking this task seriously. Have you just been gallivanting in school? Pay close attention…'

"… to your surroundings. They could just be hiding. Remember that warlocks have stronger magic than we do and that they can probably detect when we're around." It was the fourth day in a row that she reminded me about this. One week in Paradise Valley and already she's grown irritable.

"It's not that easy," I grumbled, spooning cereal into my mouth. Cap'n Crunch: mankind's greatest invention. "Besides, if they’re so much more powerful, then how do you expect me to find them on my own?"

She was seated in front of me, dolled up and irresistible for all these paradise valley neighbors to welcome into their homes and divulge their deepest secrets to. Preferably the male residents. "Mystification. How many have you Mystified?"

"Nine. I'm out of juice, Lia. And I haven't found anyone who's seen or remembers any weird, warlock-like activity in school. This town is more boring than the last one. I asked this girl Sandra if there have been any paranormal happenings lately, and she said some other guy named Seth not texting her back must have been paranormal! Because apparently everyone texts her back! This is ridiculous!” My frustration was growing and I partly blamed the stupid surroundings. I wanted to be under a canopy of trees, by a spring, with the earth in between my toes and the sun peeking through the leaves. I wanted to be home.

 “What if none of them are students anymore? What if they're all old and ancient and wise? We won't stand a chance," I said quietly.

 "That's impossible. Their powers are passed on to their offspring. I'm sure that there's at least one warlock in your age bracket. Their kind is always scared of extinction."

 "In any case, I can't keep it up. I'm going to have to draw from some water soon. Mystifying a whole bunch of humans in the span of a few days is making me weaker." In the back of my mind, I had another reason for wanting to be all powered up. A fairy turning 16 is not exactly a milestone, but a promise from a long time ago always kept me excited for my birthday.

 She nodded. She stared at her hands for a long time, not speaking while I finished my breakfast. I could tell she too missed home. 5 years is a long time for us fairies to be apart from our forest – soon to be 6 in a few days. Lia lived a good life there as a well-praised guardian. She was attuned to the Mother in ways I could only ever wish to be, but the farther away we were, the weaker our powers grew. It would all change if we can only retrieve what was lost from our home. Then, we will again be looked upon as the most powerful and respected kingdom in all the forests of the world. My mother and father may rest, my sister can live the rest of her life at peace.

 I was despondent but I was determined. I had to do this for my family. "Do you really think it's here?" I asked when my bowl was emptied.

 "Damian said so. And it's our only option, so let's just hope that he wasn't lying." Damian Flanders, CEO of a big shot bank in Chicago, our previous place of residence. Also a warlock. He was the one who led us to Phoenix when he said that the chief family lived here.

 "You trust him? He's a traitor to his own race." Loyalty and honor meant everything to us.

 "Yes, I do. The i***t loved like a fool." She smiled sadly. She and I were both filled with longing thoughts of our home, and the lengths that we have to go through just to get back to it; even if it meant deceiving and hurting innocent people along the way.

 "Alright, Li," I said, standing. "I'll be extra alert, okay? Let's just get this over with."

 She stood up as well and we headed for the elevator. "Right."

SETH WARREN

I watched Nicki step out of a silver sedan, and in the middle of the process I was able to catch a glimpse of her mother. Well, if that was her mother. She looked incredibly young to be a mother, and pretty as well. Almost as pretty as Nicki herself. Only she could portray your typical Barbie doll beauty, golden-brown hair and peachy skin, eyes as deep as the sea – that she had in common with her “daughter.”

"Here she is!" that was James. I rolled my eyes and watched my friend approach the blue-eyed enchantress. Ever since their handshake, he’s been acting the same, but not quite the same either. He moved and acted the way he normally does, but every time Nicki was mentioned, any time she was around, any time he brings her up in conversation, it’s like he forgets everything and fixates on her. I almost feel as if he’d jump off a roof if she asked him to – and I had an ugly feeling it was something she wouldn’t mind ordering either.

I still couldn't pin-point what she is. Not a werewolf since yesterday was a full moon and no one from our family picked up on any signs of shifting in our surroundings. Maybe she was a vampire. She certainly has the looks for it, and it would explain the unnatural draw she had over James. The unnatural draw she had on me, for that matter. Something about those lips of hers makes me always want to see it in a smile. Whenever she smiled she looks so invitingly warm in that moment, her aloofness slips, her icy confidence melts in a split second. It’s just a little crush, I’d tell myself whenever I caught myself staring during English, Chemistry, Homeroom, even lunch period…

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked around to see my brother, Alex, glaring at the girl in question. How is my brother able to not look at her with attraction in his gaze? Is it just me? Am I so weak as a warlock that I’m already falling for her supernatural charms? Warlocks were supposed to be the strongest magical race, and more so the leading warlock family, the strongest of our kind. The training was rigorous, but at the early age of 10 and 8, my brother and I had easily mastered complex spells meant for full-grown warlocks, connect to each others’ minds from a distance that would strain even an alpha werewolf, and feel the magical energy in any given area so well that we knew right away if a threat was nearby. All necessary abilities for a lead warlock. Alex lived up to that standard to the tee, but as my father always liked to remind me, I had a long long way to go.

"Figured it out yet?" Alex asked me.

"No. I'm thinking vampire." I told Alex about Nicki lunchtime of the first day I saw her. He's older than me by two years and I was hoping that he'd know how to handle this situation. "Hey, Al."

"Yeah?"

"Should we reveal ourselves to her?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Not yet. Let's try to find out her intentions first. Try talking to her. We don’t know if she lives with a coven, or pack, or any more of whatever her kind is.”

“She was with another woman just a while ago. She was older and looked like she could be her mother.”

He nodded. “Update me if anything else comes up.” He patted me twice before leaving. I watched his back as he made his way inside school. Alex was graduating by the end of the school year. Soon he’d be shipped off to some Ivy league school and graduate that place with flying colors – as he always does, then take over the family businesses, then become the next head of the family, forever being the pride of my father. I envied him, I really did. But at the same time, it was a heavy life to lead, full of responsibility and expectations.  

James called my name and I turned to see him approaching me with Nicki only a few steps behind. My instinct told me to get her alone and away from James before trying to get into her head and try digging around. A part of me desperately wished that she meant no harm, that I can just ask her about her business and she’d reply that she and her mother just wanted a new place to settle, to live a normal life, in peace. I know the chances were slim and that even if it were so, my family would still take it as a precaution to threaten them to leave, if not worse. Still, if it were up to me I wished I could ask her about herself just for the sake of it, without any ulterior motives, maybe even be her friend, marvel more at her brazen confidence, witness more of that uncharacteristically innocent smile. I held back any impulse I had to do just that. Patience. Don’t reveal yourself yet. Alex was right.

"Hey, man. Was that Alex?" James said as he was nearing me, Nicki looking curiously, her History textbook cradled in her arms in a hug. She looked dwarfed because of it, and for the first time I noticed how short she was, probably barely reaching my shoulders if we stood next to each other. How cute.

 "Yeah, he left his wallet at home. Wanted to borrow some money," I lied. I could feel Nicki staring at me, but I refused to make eye-contact. I couldn’t allow her to land any more of her charms on me.

"Ah. Well, you haven't met Nicki yet, have you?" At that, she stepped forward and held out her hand much like she did to James a week ago.

"You’re in practically every one of James’ stories." she said, with that ridiculously attractive smile of hers. “Seth, right?” s**t. I stared at her hand for a while, wondering whether I should touch it. After a while of considering, I put up a magical shield around myself, careful not to make it obvious. Hopefully she wasn’t strong enough to detect me with the barrier up, even if we did hold each other.

I took her hand and replied casually, "Yeah. And you're the new girl.”

For a while I thought I saw her smile fall into a grimace, but then she chuckled lightly and said, "I guess so. I'm getting the hang of this Phoenix weather." She let go of my hand and I sighed in relief and exhaustion. Detecting magical energy is easy, but repressing my own was a particular challenge. Luckily, she seemed unfazed by our touch.

"She was a Chicago girl," James interrupted.

"Yeah?" I said. "So how come you moved?"

She shrugged. "My mom," was her only reply. She looked around, her eyes landing on other people around us, already uninterested in the conversation. 

"She has work here in Paradise Valley?" I coaxed.

"That and some other reasons." She nipped at her bottom lip nonchalantly, not meeting my gaze, looking impatient as hell. It drew my eyes to her plump full lips. What is it about those lips…

"Like?" I tried to ask nonchalantly. As far as interactions went, I was probably falling under the category of lame first impressions. On one hand I wanted to impress her with something more interesting up my sleeve, probably catch her interest as easily as she seems to catch everyone else’s interest. If I’m being completely honest, on another occasion where I wasn’t on a mission to uncover her identity, her ignoring me might have hurt my pride a lot more than it currently is.

She was quiet for a few seconds and when she was about to reply, the sprinklers suddenly went off and started pouring on us. She squealed, using her book to shield her head with one hand, the other gripping daintily on James’ muscled arm. I couldn’t help rolling my eyes.

All three of us headed for the building. I dropped it for now. Seems an awful lot like she's hiding something. Too bad I'm curious what it is.

NICKI FAY

Seth Warren. Your typical tall, dark, and handsome. From what I heard, he's on the track and field team with James. Quite popular among the girls too, and smart, apparently. Also annoying.

I'd have to beware of that kid. He kept on asking these questions! As if he knew something. And to top it off, my Mystification wouldn't work on him. But I might just be jumping into things. I barely had enough power left to turn on those sprinklers, after all. Maybe I'm really just drained.

We had Lab with each other. I watched him from where I sat at the back row. How could I not have noticed him before? He's good looking, I can tell you that. Not in the conventional way James is, but just enough to make you want to look twice. Light brown hair and an even lighter set of eyes. He also had a firm jawline and a nice built. He looked kind, which is a rare thing for these privileged high school popular kids. Like you can tell him a secret and it will stay between the two of you. Like he’d comfort you if he found out about your troubled past. Not that I was interested in that – I couldn’t afford that kind of friendship when so much is at stake for my family, my kind.

“I’ll meet you again in our dreams, wherever you’ll be I will meet you on this day.” My mind wandered. You remind me so much of…

Just then he looked back and our eyes met. Grace under pressure, Nicki, I reminded myself, giving him the most charming smile I could muster. He looked shocked to see it, and smiled back a bit tentatively. I caught his face turn red before he quickly returned his attention to Mr. Barnes who was explaining today's experiment. A blush?

I tilted my head to the side, oddly interested. Seth Warren, there's something about you.