13: Brand New Eyes
1252 Words
“Oh no. Oh goodness. This is weird. This is really weird. What are we going to do, Kyrie?”
“Don’t panic, Aeowyn. We’ll figure something out.”
“How did this even happen? She was human, right?”
“Apparently not, not truly.”
“What the heck is that supposed to mean?”
“Shhhh, she’s waking up.”
“But—”
Saoirse’s eyes flutter open to see the two beings who had been arguing hovering above her, supported by iridescent, shimmering wings not unlike those of a butterfly. They have something of a glow about them and are wearing breastplates, vambraces, and long flowing skirts.
“Who are you?” Saoirse asks dazedly.
“We should be asking you the same question,” one of the beings, whose wings are various shades of pink, replies with some irritation.
“Lighten up, will you?” the other being, whose wings and hair are comprised of lustrous purples, chides gently. “She’s probably disoriented. We need to be gentle.”
The pink one huffs scornfully. “I don’t trust it.”
The purple one rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to Saoirse. “I’m afraid you’ll have to answer a few questions before we can tell you anything about us, other than that we’re here investigating some music that could be heard throughout the realm. Harp music. Do you know anything about that?”
“I played the harp,” Saoirse answers, struggling to sit up. Neither of the beings—are they faeries?—helps her; they seem to be fairly distressed by what Saoirse’s just claimed.
“You played the harp?” the purple being repeats, clearly skeptical.
“Yes, I played the harp. I’ve been playing the harp for years and years. Is that so difficult to believe?”
“To play this particular harp never should have been within reach for one such as yourself,” the pink one sneers cryptically.
“It wasn’t that hard to make it out here, stone to stone,” Saoirse argues, seeming to miss the pink one’s meaning, then adds, “and it’s a harp like any other, although uncommonly well-made and well-tuned, as far as I can tell.”
“Not so much. Everyone else who’s tried to play it just made awful, discordant noise, and then the river swallowed them up as punishment,” the purple one explains carefully.
Saoirse seems to be having trouble processing this information. “How many have tried before?”
“Hard to say. The harp has been here, in the river, for centuries.”
“Why?”
“Not for us to answer, not for you to know,” the pink one snaps.
“Am I in trouble? Have I broken some sort of rule?” Saoirse inquires, trying to figure out how she’s offended the pink being. “If I did, I swear to you, it was unintentional. Rhys and I were just trying to figure out how to get him home—”
“Rhys. The one who was with you?” the purple one asks.
“Yes. And I’m Saoirse. We came…here, wherever here is, by accident, and the way back closed behind us. There was a harp, a depiction of ones, in the vines, so when we came across this one, I thought maybe it could help us get back home. I don’t know how it would, but nothing’s really made sense since we came here—”
“How did you come here?”
“We were in the woods, and I saw a blue glowing light, and I chased it. I wanted to know what it was, and it felt like it was…calling me. Then there was fog, so much we couldn’t see, and a feeling like torn ribbons all around us, and then…. We were in a clearing in a woods, with no fog, but it definitely wasn’t the woods we’d come from.”
“Someone left the gate open,” the pink one mutters angrily. “Some sprite went through, and—”
“Please, if we’ve broken any laws, let all the blame and punishment fall on me,” Saoirse pleads. “It’s all my fault. I’m the one who wanted an adventure. Rhys just wants to return to his home. He didn’t ask for any of this.”
“I don’t know that any sort of blame or punishment is necessary,” the purple one assures her, “but we still have questions. The song that you played on the harp. How did you know it? Why did you play that song?”
“I…I don’t know. It just came to me.”
“Forgive me, but that’s a bit hard to believe.”
“I wish I had something better to tell you. I tried songs I learned back home, but none of them sounded right here. So I listened to the river, and the singing in the trees, and…tried to play something harmonious. A complement to the existing music.”
“So even then, you could hear it.”
“Is that…not normal? Rhys could hear it, too, he said.”
“Unbelievable,” the pink one grumbles.
“It makes more sense than any of our theories,” the purple one argues. “Do you sense any deceit in her?”
“No, but this is impossible! How could a human know that spell?”
“She’s clearly not a human, so—”
“Wait. What?” Saoirse questions, clearly confused.
“Ah, begonias, now you’ve done it,” the pink one curses.
The purple one sighs heavily. “Forgive her. She’s a bit out of sorts today,” she addresses Saoirse, speaking of her pink companion. “My name is Kyrie, and this is Aeowyn.”
“Nice to meet you both. I never dreamed I’d meet…forgive me…you are…fae?”
“Faeries, yes. So are you, it would seem.”
Saoirse shakes her head. “There must be some mistake….”
“At some point, undoubtedly, but not now. That song you played is a spell, a powerful, ancient spell. It strips away illusions and causes everything to be seen by all for what it truly is. Before you played, we thought you were a human.”
“I am a human.”
“No, Saoirse. Look at your reflection in the river, if you can manage it. The spell seems to have taken a lot out of you.”
Trembling, Saoirse moves to where she can see her reflection in the crystalline waters of the river, which seem to be calmer than she remembers them being before she played the harp. To her surprise, a faerie stares back at her from the water, with blue-tinted skin, brilliantly golden hair, and wings of light blue and gold.
“What…. I can’t…. How?” Saoirse asks, turning to Kyrie and Aeowyn for answers.
- Writer
