an hour earlier...

❩❨

IT WAS A good thing that I had not shown up in that laced frost dress from the Winter Faerie. It would have feigned a plausible high status here; which was something that I no longer had the right to possess.

Especially not for a trial.

I knew precisely where I was as I took in the landscape. Unlike some of the rolling hilly areas of the Alpha Plane, the flat, dull region which the Dreamcatcher Authority inhabited left much to an artist's imagination.

After living in the Alpha Plane for years, I could navigate it as easily as I knew the back of my hand.

I recognised the giant silver-leafed and bronze-trunked oaks either side of me, their branches entwining to imitate the structure of an archway. This was the invisible door to the diamond temple.

I did not dare to breathe as I stepped through it.

The air was stale and balmy —a welcome temperature after having been in the snows of the Pine Woods. I could feel the magic in the air; it gyrated against mine, feeling it out and attempting to understand it.

My magic was as much of a mystery as I had thought. The other magic recoiled, almost hissed at me.

This was not off to a good start.

I tried not to let my limbs tremble as I ascended a short flight of mossy stone stairs to a clearing. Fireflies danced along the ribbons of red, yellow, blue and pink light which swirled overhead, illuminating the sea foam green grass and iridescent flowers.

I turned my nose at it all.

The Dreamcatcher Authority surrounded themselves with beautiful things for the purpose of tempting and luring those drawn to such basic greed.

The diamond temple then came into view —but my presence was acknowledged long before I had even caught sight of the council.

"I take it that you finally decided on the male appearance," a low, piercing voice spoke —one that caused my feet to stumble. Her. "You should have informed me, so I would be aware," she continued. "And so that I can mention that I used to have a brother."

For a moment, my soul or consciousness felt as though it had stepped out of my body. I could not move. I had known that she would be here, and yet I was unprepared to hear her speak. It had scarcely been half of a month —why did it now feel like a lifetime?

Then I recalled my declaration.

I hate her. I hate Magenta.

Did it still ring true?

Honestly, all that I could feel right then was uneasiness. There was no anger or bitterness; no desire to seek revenge —only trepidation. Wariness.

I stepped forward into the light of the diamond temple, and whatever breath that I had had left within my struggling lungs abruptly escaped.

Sitting on the bloodstone throne, right in the centre of the temple, was Magenta. Her eyes simmered, the bright pink reminding me of poison.

She was devastating. Her beauty had always surpassed mine, yet it seemed to have magnified since her promotion. Her gown had not altered much from the time I had witnessed her initiation, but there was something grander about it —about her.

It derailed me.

A flicker of movement then drew my gaze to the edge of the dais —in the shadows, lurked a small figure. I could make out pointed ears, before the creature emerged and my suspicions were confirmed.

The Elf with shadow magic.

He seemed a little more battered and bruised than when I had seen him last. Had he gone through battles as well? I decided that it served him right.

"So I was right," Magenta then quipped, her tone flat and emotionless; though her luminous eyes lidded with smugness. "You are quite...a puzzle."

My eyes narrowed slightly at that.

Most would think that she alluded to her being unable to properly evaluate me. True, she had never understood me nor my choices. But I knew what she meant: I had still not chosen an appearance.

"I am one being," I responded, "with whatever exterior I favour. I feel authentic in different bodies, at different times. Sometimes one is more helpful than the other to a situation. But I will not choose one to define me —I do not value myself by them. I simply like all of what humanity has to offer."

I felt that I had sufficiently argued my point as she was then at a loss for words in the way of a response.

"...Quite," Magenta's deadly voice eventually cut through the brief silence. She then cleared her throat purely for effect. "I do not think that I need to remind you what it is that is truly on trial here. Magic," she mused, "being used by a Dreamcatcher."

I glanced around the clearing.

"Where is the rest of the council?" I inquired, finally noticing that it was only me, her and the Elf.

"I am the one who summoned you," said the Dreamcatcher. "I alone have the right to hold this trial, regardless of the other members' whereabouts."

My eyes lidded.

I was not ignorant —Magenta had attempted things like this when we were children. She would tattle to our governess about a trivial matter, and when no one gave it the amount of attention she thought that it deserved, she would take it upon herself to scold me.

"You summoned me here to have a trial solely with you —do you intend to jest?" I said through my teeth. "I was kind of in the middle of something."

"Absolutely," she answered, as though it were normal. "And I have no concern for your schedule. This is a very serious issue," she informed me, sitting completely upright. "There is a reason that magic should be wielded only by those who are born with it."

"That is an extremely dangerous and narrow minded opinion," I deadpanned.

"I can and will sentence your to death without a further thought if you do not cooperate," she stated, not in the mood for my condescending remarks.

"Mm," I grunted, relenting. "Fine."

Perhaps I should indulge her and this ridiculousness, since she had generously brought me all this way.

"I have heard the witness account of the Elf," Magenta then began. "He came to your dream shop after being told by a Wytch that the owner possessed some confusing magical abilities. He did however, mention that you refrained from using them. I am glad to know that your first instinct is not to harm others."

It was comforting to know that the requirement to be unbiased towards defendants was being upheld.

"I would never strike first, my Lady —nor would I willingly engage," I assured her.

I too, could be polite.

She raised a brow at the title all the same. "Indeed. It would not take away from the danger, I am sure that you are aware of that," she responded with a hint of venom. "So regardless, show me the extent of these abilities," was the commanded. "I must judge for myself how much of a threat you pose."

I could not exactly see the point, if the rest of the council saw no need to look into my case.

Yet I nodded, and rolled my shoulders. Steadily and slowly, frost began to creep along my limbs, in intricate laced patterns. It then spread onto the grass, dusting it a powdery white. I paused to gauge a reaction, but it was a fierce silence. My muscles stiffened.

More than anything, I wanted to try to show the beauty of what I could do.

Magenta and the Elf then watched on as I cupped my hands, concentrating on a specific form. Pieces of ice crystallised in my hold, before moulding and fusing together into the delicate shape of a rose.

The reaction that I received was raised brows —but it was something. Satisfied, I then burst the frozen creation into purple and blue and pink shards which speared where they may, but melted before they hit anything.

I then moved on to another gift.

Knowing there was a protective barrier around the temple, I stretched my hand in an arc towards the sky. Three large white concentric magic circles fizzled to life above and between us, whirring before clicking into place. This drew a surprised breath.

Thoroughly smug and motivated, I began to perform with a little more confidence.

My last feat was the only one which was unpredictable. I nervously flexed my fingers, and summoned a small amount of electricity. Thankfully, as I had hoped, tiny fractals of lightning grew from my hands.

I noted the shift on the throne from Magenta; the wariness of how temperamental this could be. I willed myself not to waver, to slip up. I kept a rein on how far to let the lightning stretch, but let the bolts dance from one fingernail to the next.

Then I clenched my hands into fists, dispelling the energy and feeling a tingle in my spine. And I realised at the lack of visible outrage, that this magic was mine —I could claim it as such.

Magenta's expression after my display, though, was rather unreadable —in contrast to the Elf. There was a disapproving scowl there.

"...The last one is the one that developed the most recently," I felt the need to mention.

"What do you mean by that?" the Dreamcatcher was quick to demand, her eyes narrowing.

There was still something within me that trembled at the tone of her voice —like a fear learned long ago.

I visibly swallowed before addressing her. "Ever since I first received the magic, it has been evolving and adding onto itself," I admitted. If there was one thing that could not be gotten away with in front of the Dreamcatcher Authority, it was dishonesty. "It began with making dreams and bottling nightmares —"

"—Which is a detail that the Elf seems to have failed to mention," she spoke over me, her nails rapping the armrest lightly but distinctly. The said Elf flinched; the mist at his feet curling. "...And making dreams, you say?" Magenta continued. "Absolutely unheard of. Bottling nightmares? Our kind has not dealt with the concept of harbouring nightmares for eons."

"With all due respect my Lady, a Dreamcatcher with magic is also unheard of," I dared to point out.

She raised a dark eyebrow. She slowly digested my argument, before humming in a way that likely meant her admitting touché.

"So you weave dreams," she concluded. "How unprecedented. Though...how did you withstand the pressure of a nightmare?" she then questioned. "I would have understood keeping it within yourself, but glass cannot handle whatever the nightmare was."

"I altered the glass with magic," I answered. "It was not a normal bottle when I was done with it."

"Hm. That magic could theoretically make sense and be of use," Magenta admitted, tilting her chin upwards. "However, you are here to be evaluated on the abilities which are capable of harm. I must think about who will hear of this next. We do not need another war," she warned as the fire in her eyes flared.

"You will not get one," I scoffed. "Not from me. All I care about is my established life —not power."

The Dreamcatcher tilted her head, amused by my ideals.

"That does not prevent anyone from exploiting you," Magenta reasoned. "Imagine if your magic was harnessed by the wrong people —what would you do?"

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself," I grunted, and almost unwisely rolled my eyes.

She did not look so convinced.

"...We are missing the point here," the Elf then spoke up for the first time. His voice was dry and hoarse, as though he had wasted it by screaming. "What exactly this magic is, and why he has it."

The Dreamcatcher looked back to me.

I did not know how to explain it. It had happened so suddenly, so desperately, that I had not paused to think of the true origins. I considered telling her about Eves —though surely she would already know.

"How did you acquire the magic?" Magenta then reiterated, sitting back as though we had eternity.

For some reason, I could not find the words. My gaze gravitated to those uncomfortably pink eyes, and they returned my glance with spite.

"Perhaps he stole it," the Elf suggested.

"I —I did not," I blurted, my throat constricting and loosening entirely at its leisure. "I...I was attacked. Four human soldiers ignited their flamethrowers against me, and I was burning. Then it came."

"But you cannot die in this form," Magenta clipped.

She believed me —she knew that I did not possess enough knowledge and skill to take from anything.

"Indeed, I cannot," I agreed. "But I still suffered burns. The magic manifested without my will nor want. I did not ask for it, but in the end, it saved me."

"How?" she questioned, and she seemed truly curious for the first time throughout the trial.

I swallowed down my unease and said, "I...put my hands into spilled dreams, and absorbed it through there. And then I gave the humans dreams of what I had seen —the Beta Plane —before making them sleep."

I seemed to have forgotten that before.

"You did what?" asked the Dreamcatcher, stupefied.

I assured her that it had been temporary and natural —that they had automatically woken up some time later as though they had simply fallen asleep. They had not been harmed in any way —apart from the damage they had taken when they had hit the floor.

Yet as soon as the words had left my mouth something occurred to me: I could make humans fall asleep.

If that had not been a convenient fluke, was there the possibility that I had since done it again?

What if I had done it...to Adam last night?

I frowned and glanced down at my shoes. No —he had taken Icen blood; I had seen it myself.

Though, I wondered if I was right about the the Icen blood not being a necessary component —about it merely being a sedative. That would make it a diversion.

I properly thought about it. I had read nothing about Icen blood having the power to lift spells that were no better than a curse. Maybe my abilities really had been the only reason that the soldier had slept.

I had not meant to do it the last time if had happened; it could have been an unconscious reaction. My heartbeat began to pick up its pace.

No. Impossible. Edva would have said —

My eyes widened.

—Shit. If he had actually known about the power, that would mean that he had deceived me.

I froze.

Perhaps the Faerie had planned it from the beginning. We likely possessed similar frost magic, so his could have felt out all of the potential of mine. He would have known that I could be the fix. That was why he put us in the same room; why he tried to stir something up between us —because I had had to be willing.

If the situation would not call for self-defence, it would call for generosity from the heart.

What a strange, careful plan.

And it had actually been built on a hopeful theory, since the soldier's insomnia was magic-induced.

But Edva had nothing to gain from the cryptic and temporary solution. Not unless he had somehow not wished to disappoint me with the fact that he did not know how to help. Though the lying irked me.

I could not understand why he had not simply told me —I could have handled it. The humans and I would have carried on with our original journey, still yet to find a cure. And I certainly could have come up with that temporary solution myself.

It was not inherently a bad thing —the premise behind it was just so misleading. Fooling.

I had been fooled.

And if that was all the truth —if the reason Adam was thinking that he was fine had been my doing, then he was not cured at all. He still needed me, but he was on his way home, thinking that I was to die.

All of those thoughts concluded in a few seconds, and I gasped as I came to the realisation.

'You're my destiny', he had told me.

I clenched my fists and stared defiantly into Magenta's eyes. I would face that hellfire. I would face her. There was no longer an option to passively accept death —I had to make it out of here alive.

I had to live for him.