The Chronicles of a Young Fyora: The Beginning

     “What’s happening to the forest?” Taelia asked, suddenly aware of the silence that surrounded them. As she waited for an answer, she was struck with an eerie feeling. Fyora felt it too, a shudder running down her back.

     “It’s... Grey in this area of the academy’s grounds,” Professor Beltane explained curtly, obviously feeling the shift in atmosphere around them too.

     “W-why? Where are we going?” Fyora asked nervously, looking around as if her next opponent was about to hop out of the sickly looking trees at any moment.

     While this past week built her confidence greatly, she was only able to spar with fellow faeries. What if Professor Beltane was taking her to her first battle against a monster of some sort? Fyora’s thoughts ran wild and her heart began to take on a rhythm of its own.

     “Fyora, please trust me,” Beltane said, pausing midstep and placing a hand on the future Queen’s arm. “I would never put you up against anyone you’re not ready to face.”

     Fyora nodded, attempting to get her breathing under control. “I know.”

     After several more minutes of walking, the path opened up to a rink unlike any other Taelia and Fyora had seen before. The ground was grey and ashen without a single plant in sight, as if all of the life had been drained from the terrain. At the edge of the ring, there was a waterfall with water so murky and dismal, it almost looked like liquid silver in the spots where the sun reflected off of its surface.

     Sitting at the edge of the waterfall was a sad-looking faerie almost too monochromatic to notice. She was as grey as the landscape, covered in tattered rags with hair as silvery as the water flowing at her back. If she had not turned to look at her visitors, Fyora wouldn’t have noticed her at all.

     “Baelia?” Professor Beltane called out. “I’ve brought you your next sparring partner, the soon-to-be Queen Fyora.”

     “Oh… Hi…” Baelia said monotonously, raising herself from the waterfall’s edge with what appeared to be great effort.

     “Nice to meet you. Baelia, is it?” Fyora said, reaching out a hand. The Grey Faerie shook it weakly. “My name is Fyora and this is my good friend, Taelia, the Snow Faerie.”

     “Nice to meet you both,” Baelia mumbled in response, unable to bring herself to make eye contact.

     “Thank you for your hospitality in welcoming us here, Baelia,” Professor Beltane said graciously. “I know most faeries don’t venture out this far, so we appreciate it.”

     “It’s nice to have… visitors,” Baelia admitted with an almost smile. It was as if the greyness of her skin and the misery of her powers stopped the smile from taking its fullest form.

     “Let us get set up first!” Taelia said emphatically, placing an arm on Fyora’s shoulder and pulling her off to the sidelines.

     “What are you doing?” Fyora asked in a demanding whisper.

     “I don’t know!” Taelia admitted. “I”m just… Something doesn’t feel right. What if Baelia turns you grey too?”

     Fyora could see the worry in her friend’s piercing blue eyes and, she had to admit, the young Queen herself felt it too.

     “I trust Professor Beltane and, most importantly, I trust myself,” Fyora reassured her. “I’ll be fine.”

     Even though the pink and purple, powerful faerie wasn’t quite convinced in her heart of hearts, Fyora knew that grey was not synonymous with bad or evil. Just because the energy in this training ring and surrounding Baelia felt nothing short of heavy, it didn’t mean that Baelia was ill-intended. In fact, Fyora was beginning to feel sorry for the Grey Faerie. What was it like to carry around a burden as heavy as being grey? She couldn’t imagine. What she could do, instead, was to seek understanding. Fyora felt resolute in her approach, shaking off any fear she may have felt.

     “I’m ready,” she nodded to Taelia.

     “Let’s spar, Baelia. Show me what it’s like to be grey!” Fyora called out, entering the ring.

     With a deep set frown and sorrow in her eyes, Baelia approached the next Queen of Faerieland. She raised her hands, limp at the wrist, conjuring a rain cloud above her head. Fyora watched in awe, wondering what the rain cloud could possibly do in Baelia’s defense.

     At that moment, something snapped. Fyora’s hand flew to her chest, desperately grasping at something, nothing, anything. The overwhelming feeling of dread she felt brought her to her knees, gasping for air. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up at her opponent.

     “I’m… sorry,” Baelia said, dropping to her knees to match the young Queen. Even though they were in the middle of a training match, the Grey Faerie moved with such gentle concern, Fyora didn’t know how to comprehend it. Through her grief, she couldn’t comprehend much of anything.

     “It’s… okay,” gasped Fyora. “What… do I do?” She was practically begging Baelia, groveling on her knees for help. As her locks of fuschia hair became drenched by the drain cloud, she reached a desperate hand for Baelia.

     “You must give in to the sorrow, Queen Fyora,” Baelia said as tears streamed down her face in kind. It was the first time Fyora had felt such profound sadness. She didn’t know how to relent. It felt too painful, too sharp. “You must give in.”

     With a deep inhale, Fyora felt for her magic. She allowed her aubergine strands of sortilege to extend from her, mixing and melting with Baelia’s grey cloud.

     “Are you alright?!” Taelia shouted from the sideline, teetering on the edge of the ring.

     “She’s alright,” Professor Beltane said, holding out a hand to stop the Snow Faerie.

     “I’m… I’m alright,” Fyora said through a sob. As she allowed herself to weep, her own magic started turning grey and, just as it reached her fingertips, it shot out in a ray of light. It was as if Fyora’s heart was bursting with fractals of joy to combat Baelia’s sadness.

     “Fascinating,” Beltane exclaimed in awe. “Are you writing this down?”

     “Yes,” Taelia said, frantically scribbling her observations. “Of course I am.”

     The beams of light grew in intensity and multitude until they blinded the onlookers and combatants alike, washing the entirety of the sparring ring in bright light.

     As the fluorescence waned, Fyora looked around to see that the once grey ring was full of life and colour. The waterfall looked serenely blue, reflecting the skies above once again. The once abysmally grey gravel had sprouts of greenery showing through at their feet.

     “My… my training ring,” Baelia whimpered, looking around at the unfamiliar landscape.

     “Oh, it’s okay, Baelia. We can fix that,” Professor Beltane said, before mumbling under her breath. “Well, [i]you[/i] can fix it..”

     “Baelia, now that I know how to control Grey, or the absence of elements, really… I can help you,” Fyora said, squeezing Baelia’s hand.

     “Why would you want to do that?” Baelia snickered. “Most faeries would see you bringing back color to this area of the academy as a huge upgrade.”

     “I’m not most faeries,” Fyora teased. “But on a serious note, Baelia… You’ve shown me that there is nothing wrong with being grey. Being grey is a difficult power to carry. Compared to the other elements, it might be the hardest to wield, honestly.”

     Baelia looked at Fyora with a dumbfounded look on her face.

     “Really?” she asked.

     “Really,” the soon-to-be Queen assured her. “There is no light without darkness. There is no joy without sorrow. The happiness in my heart feels like the antithesis of the grief you exude, but I needed to experience your Grey-ness to see that in myself. Thank you, Baelia.”

     To Fyora’s surprise, the Grey Faerie pulled her into a tight embrace.

     “No. Thank you, Queen Fyora,” Baelia said. “It feels… good to be seen.”

     “You’re welcome, Baelia,” Fyora replied, hugging her new friend in return. The pair shared a laugh before finding their way to the outskirts of the grey training ring.

     “That was… beautiful, you two,” Taelia said, wiping a tear that immediately turned into an ice crystal on her cheek.

     “Thanks, Taelia,” Fyora said with a grin. “Now, it’s time to zap the color out of this ring. Are you ready, Baelia?”

     “You have fun with that,” Taelia said. “Professor Beltane and I will see you back at the academy, Fyora.”

     Fyora waved as her mentor and friend followed the path back from whence they had come.

     “I’m ready,” the Grey Faerie said, summoning her raincloud once again.

     With that, Baelia and Fyora took their time leeching the energy out of the vegetation that found its way through the dusty, drab terrain and bringing the waterfall back to its original cine-real glory.

     To be continued…