Fyora's Regrets

     Queen Fyora knew that it was a bad idea to bring Kaia to Faerieland.

      Practically everybody in Faerieland was wary about Kaia from the start. All the faeries had a general idea of where every faerie was. Illusen was in Meridell, Taelia was on Terror Mountain, Jhuidah was on Mystery Island. So when they heard about Kaia, this faerie from Shenkuu, a land that was thought to have no faeries, everyone was skeptical. They had good reason to be wary, what with the chaos that happened during and after the Faerie Festival.

      However, Fyora still believed in her. Even with the doubt cast in her mind, she still wanted to meet this unknown faerie. Kaia was very friendly at first. She was outgoing, intelligent, friendly, even if she was clumsy and stubborn. She had so much potential and all Fyora wanted her to do was succeed.

      Then again, Fyora went too far with making Kaia feel welcome. Kaia said she had visions of the future. None of the faeries were impressed with that. They had visions as well. Kaia's visions were also rarely true. Fyora remembered that when she first brought Kaia to Faerieland, Kaia kept warning her about objects being thrown at her or faeries flying into each other when none of that ever happened.

      Kaia's self-confidence seemed to fall once she came to Faerieland. All the other faeries picked on her for being an "outsider" and for being "unlike them". Fyora had to think of something to make her feel better. So when Kaia had a vision of the library catching on fire, Fyora jumped at the chance to make it true. It stung a little to intentionally set a fire to her academy and to put that many lives in danger, but Fyora saw that everyone would be okay. However, it didn't make her feel any better.

      Now that Fyora thought about it, Kaia's visions were mainly catastrophic. That made a lot of sense in hindsight. After all, The Darkest Faerie was very destructive.

      Once the wraiths hit, Fyora decided to put Kaia in charge of seeing the wraiths in order to help build up her confidence. To everyone's surprise, she was getting all of those visions correct. Wherever she said there was a wraith, there was a wraith. That also made too much sense in hindsight. She knew the wraiths were there because she was sending the wraiths there herself. Fyora should have been suspicious, but she overlooked it. She didn't know why she did. Maybe she was more focused on finding the wraiths. Maybe she was more focused on fixing the damage. Or, she was just happy that Kaia was finally getting her predictions correct.

      After some time, though, Fyora grew wary about Kaia. She was acting more aggressive and distancing herself. Fyora thought it'd be wise to investigate. When Kaia ran off into the forest one day, Fyora decided to follow her. Once there, Fyora found out that Kaia was The Darkest Faerie in disguise. Unfortunately, The Darkest Faerie found her and sent wraiths on her. Fyora was in no condition to warn the other faeries about what Kaia really was after that and when she was getting better, it was too late.

      All of this was too familiar to poor Fyora. She had seen such prowess in a student before and she had turned on her, too. Fyora's first thought when she first heard of what Kaia did was what happened with Xandra. Xandra had such potential to do good, such prowess. Still, she grew resentful towards the faeries and acted out against them. Xandra even sent Faerieland crashing into the ground. Fyora kept telling herself that she was going to bring it back up in the sky where it belongs, but she knew the damage that Xandra had caused was too great and it was not worth risking Faerieland crumbling. Every day her land is on the ground is a reminder of what Xandra did and it hurt Fyora even more.

      Fyora just wanted to be a good mentor. She wanted to believe that she was, but after what Xandra did, she began to question herself. It was possible that Fyora used Kaia to help her believe that she was a good mentor again. Was she really a good mentor, though? Students of hers have turned on her before. What was she doing wrong?

      "My queen?"

      Fyora turned from her window and to the door to see Baelia standing in the doorway. She had a gentle smile on and a Gemmed Sword of Light in her hand. Fyora smiled back to her.

      "I'm sorry to interrupt, my queen, but I don't know what to price this," Baelia said sweetly. "Could you help me?"

      "Of course, Baelia," Fyora replied. She got up from her chair and walked with Baelia to her shop.

      Baelia looked up at Fyora. "My queen, are you alright? You look upset."

      "I'm not upset," Fyora lied. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

      "I can imagine."

      The two said nothing else as they went to the shop. Once there, Fyora looked at the empty price tag for the sword and wrote down the first number that came to her head. Baelia looked over it. She seemed a little confused at the price.

      "This seems awfully expensive, doesn't it?" Baelia asked.

      "Oh, is it?" Fyora asked. She couldn't remember the number she put down. "I'll fix it later."

      "My queen, are you sure you're alright?"

      "I'm okay, Baelia, really."

      "If you say so."

      Fyora walked to a window and looked out of it. "Baelia, do you think I'm a good queen?"

      The question surprised the grey faerie. "What? Of course I do, Fyora. Everybody and Faerieland thinks you're an excellent queen. Why do you ask?"

      "I've just been thinking. I've some mistakes during my years."

      "Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes happen in everyday life."

      "Yes, but my mistakes have been... more serious than every day ones."

      Baelia realized what Fyora was talking about. "My queen, none of us realized that Kaia was The Darkest Faerie. None of us saw what she was planning."

      "I feel as if I should have seen it, though." Fyora sighed. "This happened with Xandra, too. She had such potential and was one of my best students."

      "None of us saw what Xandra was going to do, either." Baelia walked up to Fyora. "Are you still blaming yourself for what happened with Xandra?"

      That question hurt Fyora more than anything The Darkest Faerie or the wraiths ever did to her. She almost didn't want to answer. The words got caught in her throat.

      "I'm sorry if I upset you, my queen. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Baelia apologized.

      Fyora turned back to Baelia. "No, Baelia, you did nothing wrong. It's fine, I'm fine," she said.

      "Every time you say that, it assures me less and less. If you need to talk about something, I'm here."

      Fyora shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but I am not in the mood to talk right now. I'll be in my room if you need me."

      Fyora walked out of the store and to her room. Her mind was buzzing with thoughts. "You should have seen that Kaia was The Darkest Faerie." "You shouldn't have let her into Faerieland in the first place." "You shouldn't have gone that far to make Kaia feel welcome." No matter how hard she tried, the thoughts could not leave her head.

      "Everybody makes mistakes," Fyora muttered under her breath. "I'm sure nobody made mistakes as big as mine, however."

      How much more was Fyora going to keep slipping up like this. Another mistake like this could potentially destroy Faerieland. Fyora couldn't afford to keep mistakes like that. She just wanted what was best for her kingdom and everyone who resided in it.

      Maybe Fyora was no longer the best faerie suited for her job.

      That thought lingered in her mind as she went back into her room. She needed to think more about that possibility.

     The End.