Reaching Venus

Permission

Ian

I showed up at her dorm the next morning, flowers in hand. In a pot of course. Faeries had a hard time doing anything to harm nature and having such strong earth magic Venus would feel the same. When i knocked on the door it wasn't Venus who answered. Fern stood in front of me, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Does no one sleep anymore?" She whined.

"I'm sorry. I was hoping I could talk to Venus before she had to go to classes." I said trying to look around Fern to catch a glimpse of Venus.

Fern let out a long yawn before telling me, "She got up like 3 hours ago. Left to help some faery with a calling"

Every time I tried to see Venus for the next 2 weeks it was like this. I tried to find her in between classes, first thing in the morning, before she went to sleep. But every time it was the same thing. She was on a calling. My next move was to request she help me with a calling, but I was referred to another random elemental every time.

Knowing my one chance at real happiness was right there, just out of reach, started to get to me. I started indulging in pixie dust. It was like a d**g to faeries. It made out connection to the earth and our magic shakey. The draw was that we didn't feel bad. No bitterness or sadness or anger. Just peace. That is until we took too much.

One night after pushing myself right to that edge with the pixie dust I came home to find the one thing I had been hoping for. Venus was sitting on my couch with Molly. But like I said...all those feelings were gone.

I slowly made my way past the couch. Barely registering what I was doing I reached out and ruffled her hair.

"HI, V. Long time no sleep. I mean see. But man sleep sounds nice." I mumbled, making my way to my room.

Venus

I did everything I could to help with the faery crisis. Every free moment I had was spent helping with callings. I think secretly I was hoping we would run into the thing that had killed the faery so that we knew what we were dealing with. I was also doing what I could to avoid Ian. A part of me wanted to talk to him, to apologize for yelling at him. But I stood by what I had said. I knew if my boyfriend was going to dump me I would want a better explanation than a bond with some girl in a karaoke bar. Amber deserved that.

That is why when Molly called me begging for my help I didn't want to go. She promised me Ian wouldn't be at the house though so I agreed to go talk to her one night. She made coffee for me and tea for herself and we curled up on her couch.

"I need your help Venus. I need to leave the faery ring. I need to go see Kaelin. But the council won't let me since it's not for a calling." Molly cut right to it.

I rubbed the back of my neck, unsure why she came to me for this, and asked, " Can't you wait just a bit longer? I know it's sad or whatever but it's too dangerous right now Molly."

Molly groaned, "You don't get it. She needs me just as much as I need her. We are two halves of the same soul. Maybe if you were open to that then you'd understand "

Just as she said that the door creaked open. Ian slid into the living room, a dopey smile plastered on his face. He sauntered over and ruffled my hair, muttering something about sleep. Then he disappeared up the stairs and into his room.

"Ugh. What is with him?"

Molly sighed and set her tea down. "He has been taking pixie dust. Trying to cope with things"

I rolled my eyes, "Sure while the rest of us are busting our butts trying to make sure no more faeries die he is getting high."

"Look, Venus, I don't know what it is with you and soul mates but it's miserable for us to be without them. You people are the only reason we even exist. Ian finally found his and hasn't even been able to talk to her. He is doing the best he can. I've got to go help him." She said making her way to the stairs.

I really didn't mind the whole soul mate concept. In fact I thought it was sweet. But I didn't like the idea that some people never found theirs and were just going to keep getting hurt because of it.

"I'll talk to the counsel. See if maybe I can take you to see Kaelin or something. And I'll try to make a deal for Ian too." I offered, hoping she heard me as she jogged up the stairs.

For the first time in weeks I went back to my dorm room early. After soaking in a warm bubble bath I put on my softest pajamas and crawled into bed. I would go see Mary in the morning. Hopefully she would have insight on all of this.

-----

"Darling, I understand the pull to see one's other half but the council is concerned with the faeries lives. Don't you think that takes precedent? " Mary ask after I explained what I wanted to do.

"I mean yes...it's just that Molly sounded so desperate. She is my friend Mary. And we don't know how long this is going to go on" I replied.

Mary stopped what she was doing and turned to me, "You mean Molly Arbor? She has been with her human for the last decade or so...I think an exception could be made."

I smiled and even clapped my hands in excitement. Finally some good news to deliver rather than the doom and gloom we had all been feeling lately.

"What about Ian? He found his person the night this all started. I'm not even sure he knows her name, but maybe..."

"Oh no. I'm afraid not. I have already spoken with Ian on this matter. He does not have cause to leave the faery ring" Mary cut me off.

Having been thoroughly shut down I was feeling less than great when I made my way back to Molly's house. I hesitated a moment before knocking on the door. Only a few seconds passed before the door swung inward with a gust of wind.

Molly was laying on the couch with a pillow over her face. She waved her hand to motion me inside.

"Sorry I yelled at you last night. " She mumbled. It was uncanny how she could tell who was around without seeing them or hearing them speak.

"It's OK Molly. I uh got permission to take you to see Kaelin. But I was told Ian doesn't have cause to leave the faery ring" I said, quoting Mary.

Molly peeked out from under her pillow. A smile stretched across her face and there was a distinct twinkle in her eyes. Swiftly she swing her legs over and dropped the pillow. She jumped up and hugged me tight.

"Thank you thank you thank you. " She squealed.

"But send your friends with me. I need you to stay here. Someone I trust needs to be around to make sure any trouble Ian gets himself into he can be gotten out of"

I sighed but agreed to it. I'd been doing a good job of avoiding Ian. I knew he had tried to talk to me several times. Fern told me he came to the dorm. Mary told me when he came to speak to her. Molly said he needed to tell me something. But I couldn't face him. There was a part of me that want nothing but to be near him. But he wasn't mine to have and he never had been. He had been Amber's. The way she spoke about him. How could I be so selfish as to take that away from her? Then again I suppose he wasn't ever hers either. He was meant for the mystery girl at the bar.

"Molly, where is Ian?" I asked after arranging for Maverick to rake her into the human world.

Molly nodded her head towards the stairs and said, "Sleeping off pixie dust"

I don't know what made me do it but I found myself climbing the staircase and poking my head in his room. He was sitting up in bed fiddling with a gem or rock of some kind.

He looked up suddenly, with a small gasp.

"Venus, you're here. I thought... well. Um I came to see you. A few times actually."