Lily woke up to find herself being practically strangled by her blankets. She unwrapped herself and searched for Kara. Her best friend was thankfully across the room, on a couch with her eyes closed tightly. Lily had been far too tired to find a guest room, and apparently, so had Kara. The girl who was somehow a fairy slept quietly, but she moved every once in a while in her sleep. Her face would twist and contort itself to look angry or upset, and she'd punch at the air, grasp at it as if she were grabbing someone's throat. It frightened Lily because out of all of her friends, Kara was the least violent. Fully awake, Lily got up and stretched, a yawn escaping her. It didn't seem to be the best idea to stay here, so she gingerly tiptoed out of the room, leaving Kara behind. The hallway beyond was dark, gloomy as the inside of a cave. The kitchen was lit up dimly by candles and an oil lamp somewhere in the room. The green haired fairy that Kara had called Sylvan was seated at the table, along with two other fairies that Lily had never seen before. They both had similar purple hair and pale skin. They scared her a little.
Why were they so pale, and why did the boy have a scar across his eye?
These were questions that Lily was too shy to ask, so she kept them to herself and slowly backed away with the intention of leaving.
"Stop right there. We can see you, Flightless child."
Lily froze, embarrassment and fright making it hard to move or respond.
The boy had spoken to her, and he scared her the most.
"Um...o-okay. Am I b-b-bothering you?"
The girl with purple hair replied then.
"No. You are free to come into this room, if you wish."
Lily nodded, and then meekly came into the kitchen. The boy was glaring at her, and she wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or scared again. Probably the second thing.
"Um, w-what were you guys talking about?"
"You, mostly, and Foster."
This came from Sylvan.
A sound very much like a growl came from the purple haired boy.
"She shouldn't be here. Remind me again why I shouldn't send her out into the woods to be feasted upon by wild animals?"
The girl beside him shook her head disdainfully. "Please, brother, calm down. This Flightless girl is here because Kara wanted her to come to Lymeria. We must honor her wishes and keep her safe, or she could refuse to help us with our current dilemma."
The boy narrowed his eyes.
"And that dilemma is?"
"Repairing the Fairy Stone."
Sylvan had her hands clasped together.
From time to time, she would gaze in the purple haired fairy's direction, then turn away. This was odd, but Lily was in no place to question what she did.
"We also have to get the demise beast venom out of Foster, maybe even reverse the magic that's been used upon him."
"I'd rather not."
The boy was tapping his fingers against the table's top.
"That boy is useless, even to his own kind. Why should we help him? He's only caused us trouble."
The pale girl spoke again. "Oren, please-" Oren? Lily smirked. She tried her best to hide her face, but she couldn't, not really.
Her laughter was noticed by the male fairy, who fixed his intense gaze upon her at once. "What? What's so funny?"
When Lily didn't answer, he spoke again, angry now. "What do you find amusing?"
"Nothing." Lily chuckled.
God, that was ridiculous.
"It doesn't seem like nothing."
"Oren, let it go," Sylvan said.
"Please, we need to get back to our discussion."
"Fine."
Oren cast a furious look at the other fairy. "Peony, get that girl out of my sight."
Lily was ushered out of the room then, back into her bedroom.
The fairy named Peony whispered to her to keep Kara from waking up.
"You were laughing about my brother's name, weren't you?"
Lily was surprised. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
Peony smiled. Her wide lavender eyes didn't seem so scary anymore.
"Let's just say that I have a good sense of what others are thinking. I'd keep those outbursts of yours to a minimum, if I were you."
Lily understood what she meant, but couldn't help it. "I know, but...his name. It sounds like Oreo."
Peony tilted her head to the side, a sign of her confusion. "Oreo?"
"It's a human thing. A cookie."
Lily managed to smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your meeting."
Peony smiled back. "It's alright. If I was to speak honestly, which I will, the meeting was bland, and you being there only made it more interesting. Hush now, if you want to remain here."
Kara stirred, yawning, and the fairy turned to leave. "You are right, Lily.
Oren does sound like your Flightless Oreo." She left the room silently just as Kara's eyes fluttered open.
"Wha...huh?" Kara murmured.
"What...what time is it?"
"I don't know, but..I think it's still early."
Lily smiled. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"I think I just made friends with a fairy."

Reena looked out of her bedroom window.
The sky was cloudy.
This bothered her, since there were almost never storms in Lymeria.
The sky looked angry, such a dark gray.
The dark haired fairy sighed.
Turning back to her bed, she laid down in it on her stomach to avoid hurting her wings.
They stuck upwards, like her hair at the moment.
She had just woken up not too long ago, and hadn't even bothered to run a brush through her hair.
The only person she ever did that for was her mom, if she reminded her, or Shade, if he nagged her about it.
But now, her mother was mourning her lost son, and Shade was a shell of his former self. Even April wasn't the same.
She didn't want to play with her dolls or practice flying or using magic.
Nothing was the same anymore.
She was brought out of her misery by her bedroom door opening with a creak.
"Reena?"
The girl recognized the voice of the newcomer instantly.
She sat up on her bed instantly, hope flooding through her.
"Shade?"
Her brother came into the room, his dark hair falling into his eyes.
He remembered her name!
Happy tears were in her eyes as she hugged him. Shade was grinning, smiling the way he used to before his memory had been taken away from him. "Hi, sis," he murmured, ruffling her hair with one hand.
"I've missed you."
Reena buried her face in his chest, and her shoulders shook as she cried harder.
Shade wiped her tears away with one hand and shook his head.
"Reena, when I remembered you again, the first thing I saw was you holding your own against a dragon. You were so brave then." Reena smiled at the compliment, but then released him from her embrace.
She looked up at him, rather confused.
"Wait, how do know about that? You weren't there."
"No, I was. You're not going to believe me, but the spell cast upon me that made me forget you...changed me a lot. You...wouldn't have recognized me."
Reena was disturbed by his words. "No. Shade...Shade, you don't mean-"
"I do mean it." Shade's pale hued eyes were briefly closed. He opened them again and sighed. "I was the dragon that hurt you. A day doesn't go by now without me remembering that, and hating what happened.
I gave you a scar...I wasn't myself.
You know that. I...I'm so sorry."
Reena found that she was swaying a little on her feet. Righting herself, she gazed at her brother with a new understanding.
"Shade..I'm not mad. Really, I'm not. Did you think I would be?"
The girl's older brother was surprised, but pleasantly so. His distressed expression became something gentler.
"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Why aren't you mad? You could've been killed."
Reena laughed. "No, I wouldn't have.
Well, maybe, but if I had, I would've known it wasn't the real you that did it.
Plus, this scar isn't all that bad."
The girl rolled up her sleeve.
There was a thin, jagged line across her shoulder from the claws Shade had once had. It ran past the crook of her elbow a little, and then came to an abrupt stop before it could reach as far as her wrist. Reena chuckled and rolled her sleeve back down over it. "See?"
Shade's relief and slight amusement was evident. It was his turn to hug his sister.
Reena returned the gesture.
His arms were warm, and his smile even more so. She was so glad her brother was back.
The metaphorical hole inside of her had been sealed up with his return. She knew deep within her heart that if the opportunity arose, she would beat anyone into the ground that tried to take Shade away again.
He belonged here, with his family and his memories. Her fierce happiness felt amazing after a week of sorrow.
Let them try, she thought.
Let a centaur or a manticore or even a demise beast try to take him away.
If they come, they'll be beaten by me, and they'll be sorry they ever tried to hurt him.