Becoming Fae

I hated the dark. Not knowing what was around me because it was hidden by the lack of light was terrifying. Not seeing anything, yet hearing everything that was going on around you, leaving your mind to come up with millions of scenarios, each one worse than the last, was the worst part.

It’s been hours since I woke up with nothing but darkness, despite feeling the warmth of the bonfire on my face, and Harmon was still unconscious. Blaine and Mal were sitting on either side of me close enough to feel like I was in a vice and while I normally wouldn’t stand for it, I was finding it incredibly comforting.

Netiri had tried to restore my vision after she recovered a little bit of her strength, but there was nothing to heal. My eyes were perfectly fine. I just couldn’t see. Once more, I shivered as the fear peaked and Mal made me lay my head on his shoulder, my face against his neck.

“Tell me what’s going on?” I asked him.

“Naz and Immail are talking in that weird grunting language and Netiri is still trying to get Harmon to wake,” he answered. “I think the sun has gone down all the way now and Blaine keeps scowling so hard, I’m pretty sure his face is going to stick like that.”

“You have no room to talk,” Blaine grumbled. “You look like you’re about to have an aneurysm brought on by worry.”

“I can’t say I blame either of you,” I muttered softly. “What if this is permanent?”

“You’ll adapt. I have no doubt you’ll find a way,” Blaine gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“You’re not telling me something,” I turned to his voice.

“It’s not important right now,” he said.

“I’ll use the command. Don’t think I won’t,” I glared, though Mal turned my head a little more with a soft chuckle.

“Heather showed up at the camp,” he sighed. “With nearly the entire population of fae within a hundred-mile radius from the school. She’s seen something, but refuses to say what, just that we’ll be glad to have them when the time comes.”

“That’s reassuring,” I scoffed.

“It’s kind of reassuring to have a Valkyrie on our side, though,” Mal said.

“Wait. She didn’t use her voice to get them to follow her, did she?” I asked.

“You’d know if she did. They’d look like dopey zombies, following her around with heart shaped eyes,” Blaine chuckled. “No, they’re there on their own accord.”

“Heather might be a little unstable, being a Chimera, but she wouldn’t set out to be manipulative and evil,” Mal assured me. “She was actually a shy, quiet girl before. Smart and timid enough to make a mouse look bold.”

“Keep talking and you’re sleeping on the ground,” I growled at him.

“Valkyries are bold. Born leaders. Sirens are seductive and that requires a level of boldness as well,” he said. “Seers are typically kind of reclusive and withdrawn.”

“I think it’s a great thing that she ended up a Chimera,” Blaine added. “Seers are rare enough, but it’s even harder to find ones that are older and still sane. The things they see haunt them and twist them up. Heather was so soft that her abilities would have destroyed her if she was only a Seer.”

“Is there enough room for everyone?” I asked.

“Many of the fae that came with her are uncomfortable being underground, so they’re already building housing above us,” Blaine answered. “The ones with nature-based magic are tending the greenhouses and helping things grow better. They even brought livestock with them, so we’ll have sustainable meat sources.”

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty great, actually. And there’s been no issues with being in close quarters with demons?”

“There’s tension, as you’d expect, but nothing violent. Just not quite comfortable,” he answered.

“Huh. I’ll have to thank Heather when we get back,” I said and snuggled closer to Mal. “How’s Ben handling it?”

“He’s afraid of his own shadow,” Blaine chuckled. “It’s kind of sad, but the entertainment value is astronomical.”

“He did it to himself,” I scoffed.

“We all have that one person,” I felt Blaine shrug.

“Okay, ew,” I said then sat up and smacked him in the arm. “Also, that’s rude! Asshole.”

“What? We might look human, Fae, but we’re also part animal,” he said.

“Stop talking,” I smacked him again. “Wait. Mal? Do I need to know something?”

“What? Why me?” he asked.

“Yeah, Mal. Is there something she needs to know?” Blaine sounded like he was trying, and failing, to not laugh.

“Not helping,” Mal bit out.

“Not liking the lead up to this,” I stated.

“No, Fae. There’s nothing you should be aware of. I was mostly too busy training and surviving to turn myself into a village bicycle,” he replied. “The few times I did hook up, they all knew what it was about and none of them were from within two hundred miles of my father’s place.”

“There are parts of that answer I don’t much care for,” I said flatly. “Men are pigs.”

“Most of them,” Netiri laughed, and I heard her sitting across the fire from us. “So, Harmon woke up. He can’t hear, just like we figured, but I think I know why you can’t see.”

“I swear, if he did this on purpose...,” Mal grumbled.

“He was born blind,” she continued. “His sight was restored by a priestess while he was too young to remember and when the two of you went completely off-rail while breaking my curse, you also broke the spell giving him sight. He took your deafness; you took his blindness.”

“Can it be fixed? The spell that gave him sight can be put on Fae, right?” Mal asked.

“I might have once been a priestess, but that’s no longer the case. The purity in my spirit is long gone, from the moment I Bonded with Immail,” she answered. “There are other ways, though. Ones that take time and skill to master.”

“I can fake my way through the skill part, but we don’t exactly have time on our side,” I groaned.

“You’re blind, Fae,” she said flatly. “That means you can’t fly and as powerful as Blaine is, he can’t take anyone other than his master between the realms safely. Not without a great deal more practice and far more experience in combating the things in the Nether.”

“The butt?” I reeled back. “You travel through a butt?”

“Jesus Christ,” Blaine groaned, and Mal roared with laughter.

“I’m not butt-traveling, thanks,” I held up a hand.

“I’ll never hear the end of this,” Blaine sighed.

“We’ll pass on the... Butt travel,” Netiri giggled. “After so long, my wing muscles aren’t strong enough to get me much farther than the edge of the Vale and Immail’s are barely any better. So, we’ll have to walk for a distance. Plenty of time to learn at least the basics of seeing without using your eyes.”

“Oh, yay. A road trip where we walk and I’m incapable of admiring the scenery or seeing a flecking thing like a dip in the road or an arrow coming at my face. Sounds like a peach of a time will be had,” I huffed.

“You really can’t swear, can you?” Blaine snorted.

“Not much,” I snapped.

“That’s okay, Fae,” Mal said cheerfully, and I heard him patting Blaine’s back. “You have a seeing eye hound with you.”

“That’s not funny,” Blaine growled.

“Actually, it’s fitting. The two of you will be the easiest to practice on, since you’re bound in one way or another,” Netiri said smugly. “Mal would be best in the beginning, since her magic won’t hurt him if she gets it wrong. Which she will.”

“Wonderful,” Mal muttered.

“Test fairy,” Blaine snorted.

“Service hound,” Mal shot back.

“Sweet gods, save me from these two,” I sighed and rubbed my temples.

“How about a son of one?” Immail rumbled from behind us, and I felt him grab me and tuck me under his arm as he walked away from the fire.