Chapter 2
“Jason? Alayna? Leah? Kristina? Madi? Seth? Alex? Will? Aaron? You’re The Chosen Ten?” exclaimed Eavan.
When Eavan opened the door she saw the nine faces of the other Chosen Ten members, and each one was a face she knew. Several were her friends, others she was just acquainted with. All of them were ordinary people from school, or at least she had thought they were ordinary people. Alayna and Leah were even her best friends, and she had never guessed that they were fairies.
“Yeah, I bet you didn’t expect us to be fairies.” said Alayna, “I bet you didn’t expect The Chosen Ten to be your friends or even people you know.”
“You got me. I never thought you were a fairy. But then again nobody told me you were a fairy. Nobody even told me I was a fairy.” said Eavan getting angry.
“Eavan, we’re really sorry.” said Leah, “We weren’t allowed to tell you. If we told you the dark fairies would have found you and---”
“Killed me. I know.” interrupted Eavan, “But why now? Why was I told now?”
“I believe I can answer that.” said Fia, “But before I tell you why don’t you take a seat.”
The other nine members were sitting at a long table with five of them sitting on each side. The boys were sitting on the left, and the girls on the right. At the end farthest away from Eavan at the girl’s side of the table, there was an empty chair that Eavan assumed was hers. She walked down, and took her seat next to Alayna and across from Jason.
“Now, for us the war is fought based on the predictions of celestial element fairies.” began Fia, “Celestial element fairies can see into the future, but their predictions aren’t always clear, and won’t always happen. What they see is the future that will occur if we do nothing. Madison, who is a celestial element fairy, was given a vision that made it clear to us that it was time for you to come and join the other nine. Madi, would you please tell us about your vision?”
Fia motioned to the girl at the opposite end of the table from Eavan. Madi stood up slowly with a nervous look on her face as though she wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Aaron, the boy across from her, gave her a reassuring smile as if to say that everything would be ok. She smiled back, and began to speak.
“About a week ago I had a vision. In the vision it showed the nine if us that were here getting ready for a fight against the dark fairies. The scene then changed to the dark world, the home of the dark fairies. The battle started out like any other battle. We were winning though greatly out numbered. As the battle went on we were overpowered one by one, until we were defeated. And all through the fight I had a feeling of incompleteness as though we were a puzzle missing a piece. I felt that with that missing piece we could have overcome the dark fairies. When I told Fia and the fairy council they believed my vision meant it was time for Eavan to return. I--- I’m unsure if that’s what it meant, but I follow what the council says. If they say it’s time for Eavan’s return then I stand by them.” And with that Madi sat down with a look of relief on her face. From across the table Aaron gave her a smile and a quick thumbs up. Madi returned it and mouthed thank you back to him.
“Now that we’ve heard from Madi, I never explained fairy elements to you did I Eavan?” questioned Fia.
“No you didn’t. You kept saying wait until we get to the castle.” replied Eavan.
“Well then, now I’ll tell you all about them.” said Fia, “There are eleven different fairy elements each with its own special gifts. They are earth, sky, water, fire, wind, light, fauna, flora, celestial, spirit, and omnipotent. Earth element fairies have power over anything to do with the ground. They have power over rocks, metal, and stone. They also have limited power over plants. Sky element fairies have power over weather and clouds along with limited wind abilities. They can only manipulate wind that already exists. Water element fairies have power over water and ice. They can cause anything to freeze, and can breathe under water. They can even grow a tail like mermaids. In fact all the stories about mermaids are actually about water element fairies. Fire element fairies have power over fire and lava. They can cause just about anything to combust. Wind element fairies have the power to control wind. They can control wind that already exists or they can create wind. Light element fairies have the power to intensify or tone down light both natural and man-made. They can also control any heat generated by light. Also they can create a sphere of light around themselves. Fauna element fairies can talk to animals and can turn into any animal. Flora element fairies can control plants. They can cause them to grow very fast. Celestial element fairies are known as star gazers because they read signs in the stars. They also have visions, and can see into the future. Spirit element fairies can communicate with spirits and ghosts. They can also enter the spirit world and come out in a different place. Because time is different in the spirit world they can travel through the spirit world for an hour, but when they get back they have only been gone for a second in this world. Omnipotent element fairies have the power of all the elements at their disposal.”
As Fia finished Eavan looked around and realized that everyone appeared to be falling asleep. Eavan thought this stuff was really interesting, but she guessed that they had known this pretty much all their lives.
“Now I think it would be nice if all of you would tell Eavan what your elements are.” said Fia turning to the other nine, “Why don’t you go first Jason.”
Jason stood up and prepared to speak. He was rather tall and had red wings. He also had brown hair that hung right above his beautiful deep blue eyes. He gave Eavan a smile and began to speak.
“Fia forgot to mention that most fairies have more than one element. I happen to have four. They are fire, sky, celestial, and light.” And with that he sat down.
“How bout you go in order. So Seth, you go next.” said Fia.
Seth was shorter than Jason, but still pretty tall. He had blue wings that matched his eyes and light almost blonde but still brown hair.
“I only have two elements, water and celestial.”
Next Alex stood up. Eavan had always known Alex to be confident and good at speaking in front of people, but now he looked tense and nervous. He kept pushing his fingers through his blonde hair, adjusting his glasses and fidgeting his blue wings.
“I--- I only have two elements.” he mumbled, “They are fire and water.” He wiped sweat off his brow and sat down.
Eavan noticed that only she and Leah listened respectfully to Alex. The rest were glaring at him with--- was that hatred in their eyes? No, it couldn’t be. This puzzled Eavan. Why would they show hate to another member of The Chosen Ten?
Next Will stood up. He was tall, about as tall as Jason, with black hair. He had green wings that contrasted with his warm hazel colored eyes. Kristina smiled at him and then he began.
“I have three elements earth, fauna, and wind.”
As he sat down Kristina smiled again as if to say good job and Will smiled back. They just sat there and smiled at each other, looking into each other’s eyes. Eavan wasn’t surprised by this. Will and Kristina had been attached at the hip in the human world, why should it be any different here in the fairy world?
Next and last of the guys to stand up was Aaron. He was short with short black hair and brilliantly green eyes, though not many people saw that his eyes were green because he also had squinty eyes. He had ruby red wings and personality that made up for his lack in height.
“I have three amazing elements. Are you ready for their awesomeness? They are fire, light, and spirit.”
The girls were next starting with Alayna. She was tan completed, and had dark brown hair that was so dark it often looked black. This annoyed Alayna because people would often ask her if she was going emo when she happened to wear dark colors. She had deep brown eyes about the same color as her hair, and bright green wings that Eavan thought matched Alayna’s personality perfectly.
“I have three elements.” she said holding up three fingers, “They are earth, light, and celestial.”
Alayna smiled at Seth and sat down with a relieved look on her face. Alayna was good at faking it, but Eavan knew that she always got nervous when talking in front of people. She had no problem talking casually to people. Sometimes she wouldn’t stop, but she didn’t like talking to groups of people, being put on the spot.
Leah was next to go. She had brown hair that hung at the middle of her back and had blue eyes that matched her blue wings. She was a quiet girl who was kind to everybody.
“Like most here I have three elements. My elements are water, sky, and celestial.”
Next was Kristina, but when Leah sat down Kristina didn’t get up. She was still smiling at Will.
“Kristina” said Fia, “Kristina it’s your turn.”
But Kristina hadn’t heard. She was still looking at Will smiling and mouthing things like I love you at him.
“Kristina!” yelled Fia making Kristina jump, “Stop making googley eyes at Will and tell Eavan your elements!”
“Sorry Fia” Kristina said blushing, “I have three elements, light, flora, and fauna.”
She sat down and started smiling at Will again. Kristina was short and small and looked almost like a Barbie doll. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and yellow wings.
Last was Madi. Madi had fire red wings and a personality to match them. Eavan didn’t know what Madi’s real hair color was because Madi loved to dye it. Currently it was black with streaks of red and hung to her shoulders. Madi stood up quickly and prepared to speak. All the nervousness and hesitation she had shown before was gone.
“I have three elements. They are fire, celestial, and spirit.”
When Madi sat down Eavan asked
“So how do you find out what your elements are? And do you know what mine are?”
“You can use magic to find out what your elements are.” said Fia, “Each element has its own magical signature. Other fairies can sense that magical signature and know what element you have. In your case I don’t need to check your magical signature, there are more obvious factors telling me your element. But first why aren’t your wings out?”
Eavan felt guilty, but when she got into the castle she had hidden her wings. Just like Fia and the twins the guards outside the castle had stared at her wings with an amazement that made her feel awkward.
“I hid them when I came into the castle.” Eavan answered.
“Well please keep your wings visible when in the castle. You’re not in the human world any more, there’s no need to hide them.”
Eavan closed her eyes and imagined her wings. While she found it easy to hide her wings she still had trouble making them visible. Just as before when her wings appeared she heard nine identical gasps. Everyone was staring at her. Even Kristina and Will had torn their eyes from each other to stare at her.
“I can see why she hid her wings.” said Kristina.
“She must be the first since nearly a hundred years ago when the war began.” said Seth.
“I thought their entire line had disappeared. This can’t be real can it Fia?” asked Madi.
“It is real. This may be the turning point in the war, the chance we need.” answered Fia.
“This might be the beginning of hope.” said Leah.
“What is going on? Why won’t anyone explain anything to me?” yelled Eavan.
Eavan hated that they were talking about her as if she wasn’t there. Then the fact that she didn’t understand anything they were saying and they wouldn’t explain it to her.
“Eavan calm down!” said Fia, “I’ll explain everything. There is more than one way to tell what element a fairy has. Other than the magical signature you can tell by looking at the wing color. This isn’t very effective because the wings are only the color of the fairy’s main element. With you it’s different though. Omnipotent fairies will always have purple wings. The last time anyone saw an omnipotent fairy was almost one hundred years ago when the war began. Most omnipotent fairies were royalty though one or two weren’t. We thought their entire line had died out and that there would be no more omnipotent fairies until today when you first showed your wings. Now I think we’ve covered everything I wanted to in this meeting and I think it’s high time we retire to our own devises. Eavan if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask anyone. Leah will show you to your room. You do know where her room is right?” she said turning to Leah. Leah nodded her head, “Then I declare this meeting to be over.”
Everybody stood up and started to leave. Leah walked toward Eavan and said,
“Follow me, I’ll show you to your room.” With that she began walking toward the door.
“So I still can’t believe you’re a fairy.” said Eavan.
“Yeah, it must be both easy and difficult for you to believe all this.” replied Leah.
“It’s easy to believe I’m a fairy. I always dreamed of fantasies like this. I just never guessed that my best friend just happened to be a fairy too. Oh, by the way how long have you known that I was the last member of the Chosen Ten?”
“That’s hard to say. When they told me I was one of the Chosen Ten when I was eight years old they introduced me to the other eight and told me that the last member had gone into hiding in the human world. They told me your name, but that was it. They didn’t show me a picture or give a description or anything, all I had was a name.”
“But, wouldn’t you have figured out who I was when you met me the summer before our freshman year at band?”
“If you remember back to that first day of band, to the first few days, it took me a while before I actually remembered your name. I didn’t find out your last name until a few weeks later. By then we were already pretty good friends.”
“But Eavan isn’t a very common name. Surely you could have figured it out.”
“Actually in the fairy world Eavan was a pretty common name. Sometimes the human world and the fairy world meld together in my mind. When I met you I thought nothing about your name. It wasn’t unusual and didn’t ring any bells.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Eavan I know why you’re asking me these questions. You’re unsure if your friends are really your friends. You think the only reason we became your friends was because you were a part of the Chosen Ten. Am I right?”
“Yeah” Eavan admitted.
“Eavan, we are your friends. We didn’t just become your friends because you were one of the Chosen Ten. Besides you shouldn’t be surprised that most of your friends are fairies.” said Leah.
“How come?” asked Eavan.
“All fairies are born with a natural musical talent, some better than others. Over half the band at school is fairies. Even Mr. Johnson is a fairy.”
Eavan shuddered at the thought of Mr. Johnson, her band director, being a fairy. Mr. Daniel Johnson was a large, (actually the word fat would do better than large) Indian-looking man who was fresh out of collage. He looked like he was a least thirty-five or forty, but really he was only twenty-four. It was unbelievable that he was a fairy because though he went to collage to get his masters in music he clearly had no more musical talent than the average high school student, maybe less.
“Do you know what his element is?” asked Eavan.
“No, like Fia I can sense magical signatures, but it takes skill to tell what element those signatures are.” replied Leah.
“Is Mr. Victor a fairy too?” Eavan responded.
Mr. Victor was the head band director. He had a lot of musical talent and Eavan immediately thought that he must be a fairy.
“No, he just has skill.” said Leah, “Oh; we’re almost to your room. We just take these stairs here. Then there will be two hallways. The one on the right is the girls’ hallway with all of our rooms. I’m sorry to tell you this, but your room is in between mine and Kristina’s.”
“Oh. Great. Wonderful.” Eavan said sarcastically.
“Yeah I know. You probably already guessed this, but Will sneaks into her room almost every night.”
“Great. That’s even better. I don’t know how I’m going to get to sleep, ever.”
“Yeah I feel really sorry for you and all, but I’m just glad I’m in the room next to you instead of the room next to them.”
“Hey Leah before we get there can I talk to you about something? There’s something that’s been bothering me for a while.”
“Sure, you can talk to me about anything.”
“You remember when Alex got up to talk? He seemed really nervous. From what I know about him he’s never nervous when talking in front of people. Then I was looking around and I saw that everyone, but you and I were looking at him with almost hate in their eyes.”
“So you noticed did you.’ said Leah getting a little angry.
“What’s up with that? Why would they look at him like that?” asked Eavan.
“They look at him like that because he’s part dark fairy.” said Leah.
“What!” exclaimed Eavan, “Really?”
“Yes, his father was a dark fairy. The rumor is that Alex’s mom was tricked by his dad and that’s how Alex came about. I don’t see why everybody looks at him with hate. Just because his father was a dark fairy that shouldn’t mean anything. For crying out loud he’s one of the Chosen Ten. If being a dark fairy had anything to do with anything he wouldn’t be one of the Chosen Ten so obviously it doesn’t matter!” Leah almost yelled all of the last of this, “We’re almost there. We just go through this door and take a right.”
Leah refused to speak for rest of the walk and only spoke to say
“We’re here”
Eavan opened the door to her room and was shocked. It was huge! It had a huge king-sized bed and a desk nearby. A TV stood opposite the bed and there was a futon in front of the TV. There was a walk in closet and a private bathroom. There was just one thing that was odd about the room though.
“Everything is white.” Eavan said.
“I know. All you have to do is change the color of everything magically like this.”
Leah waved her hand over the bed and the covers immediately turned lime green. She waved her hand again and the covers turned neon orange with bright blue daisies. She waved a third time and the covers went back to being white.
“You don’t actually have to wave your hand; I just did that for effect. All you have to do is think of what color you want something to be and it will change to that color. This works for everything, not just the stuff in this room. Then you might want to know that all the stuff in your closet will change to fit you. Fia will explain more in the morning so I suggest you get some sleep.”
With that Leah left. Eavan could tell Leah was still mad because she slammed the door on her way out and slammed the door to her room. While Eavan was worried about Leah nobody else seemed to notice Leah’s rage. Leah got angry and slammed doors a lot. The only thing anyone thought was “Who mentioned Alex?”
