My Little Princess

My Little Princess

I knew she was a princess the day she was born, I was just a child then, but I knew that the precious little girl was a princess. She just couldn’t be anything less, her beauty, her laugh, and her intelligence could never make her common, as I was. I never could have imagined then how right I was, but also how wrong I was.

I should start at the beginning, when Maia was born, I was a normal, whiny nine year old girl, and the day she came home, I was in awe. She was the most beautiful baby that I had ever laid eyes on. Her blue eyes, full of curiosity for the world around her, were the blue of the ocean on a cloudless day, her hair was the color of pure sunlight, and her smile is beyond description. She had no flaws, her slightly pointy ears made her even more adorable. As she grew up, I watched her mold into a princess more and more each day. My parents and I joked about her being a princess in hiding, and Maia would just smile. It wasn’t all good for me, my parents very obviously favored her, it wasn’t surprising, but as a child growing into teen hood, it was hurtful. As Maia grew, her confidence also began to blossom, she would issue orders to me as a toddler, and there never was any hesitation in her voice. It was natural for her to order, but never was she bossy, and somehow, every order seemed fair.

My parents, though, never saw her the way I did. Of course there was some jealously, I didn’t understand why such a tiny creature could have so much power, over me, nine years her elder. Or why her beauty was so amazing, growing more beautiful each day, and I had to be so plain, or her grace, she was a natural dancer and she seemed to dance rather than walk, an unconscious grace that the best dancer would never achieve. My parents didn’t see that, though they treasured her more than life, it seemed, so they could never understand my jealously. They thought me catty and mean, but simply, I was sad and envious, but I always loved her, more than I have ever loved myself. Days passed, years passed and I grew up, embracing my common looks, and was occasionally thought to be beautiful, but I would compare myself, and I always lost to low self esteem. Maia also grew up; she kept her amazing beauty and grace, and her slightly pointed ears.

She walked to her own drum beat. She made many friends but always kept at a distance from them as if she expected to have to run away suddenly. It was interesting to watch the girls in her classes and her Brownie Troops, watch her, turning green with envy, but she never paid any mind to them. Some of the girls were catty, mean even to this flawless child, but Maia’s feelings were never in danger. My mother thought her to be naive but I knew better, I knew that she just didn’t care; she knew she was better than that. She never said it aloud, but she knew she was better than them too.

Some may say that I have unfairly put this child on a pedestal but it is not true, she deserves nothing less. Anyway, our story starts when Maia turned eight; a small family birthday party was all the celebration that she wanted. She was acting very strange, she seemed happy enough but to me, now sixteen, I had had plenty of experience detecting something under the surface of her giggles and smiles. I couldn’t imagine a reason for her to be unhappy, her life was perfect, everyone adored her, but I continued to warily watch her.

The night finally came to close, and as she was hugging and saying her good-byes, I realized the reason for her hesitations and her gloomy state, she was leaving. Her desperate good byes and her face gave her away. I didn’t understand why nobody else was alarmed, as I was. Now, as I look back, I realize that I should have done something about it then, but I didn’t. That night, when Maia went to bed, she looked at me directly; her blue eyes bright, and waved before she walked into her room. I sat on my bed that night, contemplating the likeliness that she was really leaving.

Finally, I ran across the hallway and barged into her room. What I saw, I never could have prepared myself for, and I nearly fainted. Maia was there, but she didn’t look like herself. Her eyes had taken an almond shape, and turned green; her skin was even paler than before, and she was wearing a beautiful dress that looked like flowers sewn together. Besides all of that, she was about the height of a chipmunk, and had beautiful wings like that of a butterfly, Maia was a fairy. When the door swung open, she squealed, and hid behind a vase of flowers on her nightstand. Some may ask how I knew that this fairy creature was my sister, but a pure sisterly love can never be defeated by a mere change in appearance. I shut the door quietly behind me, and briskly walked across the room and shut the window, I was afraid this amazing child would fly away. I sat on her bed and whispered,

“Maia, please come out, I will not spread your secret.”

She peaked out from behind the flowers, in which she blended in perfectly, she flew to me and landed on my shoulder, and sat down with a sigh, it was then that I knew that Maia was not a little eight year old girl, and that she never was truly my sister.

“Aubrey, please do not be upset with me, when I tell you that I am not your sister, I never have been.”

She looked at me warily and her wings fluttered nervously,

“Maia, please do not apologize, I always knew you were special, just I couldn’t have imagined this special,”

I said, touching her wings. Maia smiled and flew down off my shoulder and hovered in front of my eyes, she looked me in the eye and said to me,

“Please never think that I don’t love you as a sister just, I am a fairy and you are human, so us biologically being sisters is impossible. But I will always think of myself as your older sister.”

“Older?”

“I’ve been a fairy for a long time, but I needed to see the human world from a human child’s point of view, mainly research. I was supposed to stay until the girl turned eighteen but something……came up.”

The beautiful fairy’s face fell, the “something” she was referring to was not a good something.
“Maia,-“

“Aubrey, my name isn’t actually Maia. Fairies don’t have the same names as humans,”

“That’s understandable, what is your name then?”

“Fae,”

Fae’s eyes squinted and her ears seemed to shift and she whispered to me,

“Aubrey, I must leave now, things have come up, I must see to them at once. Please open the window.”

I sat in stunned silence; she was going to leave me here, to explain to my parents that Maia was actually a fairy? I shook my head and Fae looked a bit bewildered at my refusal, her wings began beating faster, she was aggravated.

“What do you mean by shaking your head, no? You cannot keep me here, I am not a human, and I will die here.”

I opened my mouth to speak but the sharpness of her words startled me; I shut my mouth with a snap. Fae flew to me and landed on my nose, forcing me to go cross-eyed. Her face was annoyed, her little mouth was turned into a frown, and her eyes were narrowed suspiciously, and her wings fluttered erratically, even in this state, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. She began shouting, her high pitched voice piercing my ear drums,

“What do you think you are doing? I am a fairy! Not a toy, you must let me go at once. You don’t even know who I am,”

Fae threw her arms up in frustration and jumped of my nose and hovered, once again in my face, she commenced to screaming at me again,

“I am a princess, for goodness sake, and how you, a common human,”

She used the word as an insult and I gasped, her little voice was insulting me? Why, I couldn’t imagine. You must understand my plea at not letting her leave; I am not a cruel person but I couldn’t allow her to leave, and then be stuck with God knows what suspicions pointing at murder, child endangerment or some other crime, despite my innocence. I stood up, my blood bubbling with anger, and whispered frantically to the hovering creature,

“I don’t care who you are! And I may be a “common human” but that doesn’t change the fact that if you leave I will be put in prison for killing my sister, or put in a mental institute for saying she is actually a snotty princess fairy. What do you want me to do?”

“A snotty princess?!, who are you?! A selfish little human that doesn’t understand anything other than her own world, and I want you to let me go, you big brute.”

I sighed, my breath coming out in a great hiss. Fae stopped talking and I felt her light feet on the bridge of my nose again. I opened one eye warily, fearing another outburst but she just stood there, staring me down with evident distaste. She opened her mouth to yell again but I gently put the tip of my finger over her small mouth and shook my head slowly. Rage entered her at first but as I watched her, she slowly relaxed, and I took my finger away and whispered quietly,

" Fae, where is my sister?"

Fae looked saddened for a moment, and finally answered her voice saturated with regret,

"Unfortunately, Aubrey, I do not know. She could be anywhere. Normally, us fairies just wipe the memory of the family, as if they never had the child but you know too much now. I only have two options at this point, either I kill you or I take you to Atlantis with me. I have considered the first but I wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks so I will take you with me. You are probably like most, you will search vigilantly at the beginning but eventually give up and ask for your memory to be wiped entirely, I've seen it a thousand times."

" Wait, shes in Atlantis? I thought Atlantis was well, lost."

Fae looked at me incredulously and laughed, her laugh was like that of tinkling bells, a sweet giggle, almost too sweet.

" Aubrey! You cannot honestly believe that Atlantis was LOST?! The truth of it is that we do not want humans anywhere near us, it causes....conflicts."

" Fae, can I get her back then? How old will she be?"

" You can try, of course. She will be a baby, but if you find her, I will wipe your parents memory, they will think your mother just had her. I suppose everyone will be surprised, so I will wipe theirs as well, for a favor."

I was puzzled for a moment, Fae ask ME for a favor? What could an impossibly beautiful creature want with me? I nodded, which I would come to understand, was the stupidest move I could have ever made. The fairy smiled, showing me her slightly pointed teeth and for a moment, I felt sheer terror,, but I pushed it away. If she became too much, I could just squish her, right?

"Alright, then lets get on then, shall we?"

She extended her slender hand to me, the moonlight shining on her for a split second, making her even more beautiful ,and I took her hand, with no hesitation. My head began to swoon and my stomach felt as if it had flipped, pain began to tingle at my scalp and it quickly spread the excruciating pain across my entire body. I screamed, the sound echoing in my ears, and as quickly as it came, the pain left me breathless. I opened my eyes and I was surrounded by flowers, and fairies. I shut my eyes and opened them again,I looked down and found myself a strand of wispy smoke, about the same size as the fairies. Then Fae rushed over, waving her arms and yelling for everyone to back off. She came and stood next to me, frowning at anyone who presented curiosity. I turned to her and asked why I was smoke. Fae answered that she didn't know, most the time humans turn into fairies, not smoke, but it wasn't unheard of.

Then I took a good look at my surroundings, it was beautiful, flowers and plants served as just about everything, tables, chairs, even buildings. As I followed Fae I saw fairies talking to the plants and the plants would move, as if they were paid. Fae explained to me that all fairies were born with the ability to talk to plants, and that humans were too full of themselves to listen to what they thought was "just" a plant. The plants here do work for the fairies but they have to pay the asking price, or plants will move. It takes a lot of energy but they can if they get too upset with their employer. I nodded and then sat down, all of this information was hard to take.I was sitting on a lily. Fae stood next to me again, her wings fluttering, as they did when she was nervous. Finally, I stood and turned into myself, literally, but in human form, I didn't have wings, I was just small. Fae looked at me and smiled,

"Well, that's better than the smoke, I think."

I laughed and nodded, a little giddy, but also determined to be on my way. I couldn't stand here waiting for my little sister to crawl up to me. A man walked by, this gorgeous fairy, his black hair was spiked everywhere, not just on top of his head but also on the sides and the back, his eyes were the shade of honey. My heart stopped as he turned to look at me, he winked, and smirked as I blushed. I had just fallen in love with a fairy. Fae looked at me and whispered,

"Honey, you don't have chance, that is Johnson, he can have anyone. Why would he pick you? No offense."

Then she promptly ran over there to flirt and act as if she had never met a man before. I didn't follow, I knew she was right, even if I was in this distorted fairy tale, that didn't mean this gorgeous man was going to love ME, a common human, as Fae said. I sat on the petal of a daisy, and stroked its stem as I pondered how I was to find Maia, I didn't have an eternity, so I leaped off of the flower, mumbling a quick thank you and walked over to Fae. She was still in awe at Johnson. I rolled my eyes, he wasn't that great, really. He was beautiful, his muscles uninterrupted for lack of his of shirt and his legs were very shapely, in a good way, his smile was amazing, his teeth as white as fresh fallen snow, he was slim but he had a weird shaped nose. And now as I look back, I wonder how much of that I imagined and how much was true.

I cleared my throat, and Fae looked at me, obviously irritated, and said her good byes and walked over to me, she didn't look happy and she was shaking her head before she even made it over to me,

"Look, Aubrey, I think you misunderstood, I am not helping you on the ridiculous journey of yours. No one has ever found their sibling after a fairy leaves, and I'm sure you won't. Why don't you just leave now, before you get hurt?"

"Get hurt? I don't care, I'm saving myself, I can't be put in jail or thought of as a crazy person because you fairies are so selfish, that you just don't care how bad you uplift a family. I mean, you saw yourself, how much we loved you, how we thought of you but you're just an impostor, a family killer and a baby stealer. Go to Hell!"

With those words, I stalked off in a random direction, full of fury but also sort of scared at the look at Fae's face. I was crying but I couldn't help it. You must understand, I was starting to see Fae's point. The more I saw of Atlantis, the more I came to realize that Atlantis was built for fairies, there were never stairs, just pathways of vines to guide the little flying creatures. I didn't have wings or anyway to fly, I also knew though, that I couldn't go back home, for fear of being arrested. Finally, I just sat down, and cried, not caring who saw me or what was said. When there were no more tears to cry, I stood up and walked through the sparkling city, looking at everything, trying to figure out how it all worked, I was past being sad. I was determined then, I was ready to do whatever it took, even if it meant climbing the vines that guided the fairies, to find my sister, to find my little Princess.

At this point, my adventure had barely started, but I thought that I was prepared for everything and anything, but I was wrong, so very wrong. That night, I took refuge in a friendly white lily. Before this adventure, I had never known plants as people, but only as Earth's bounty. I quietly spoke to the flower, asking for permission to sleep in it for the night, it stooped its big white petal to gracefully fall at my feet and I gingerly climbed in. I had never felt so alone in my life, seeking shelter in a flower. Tears escaped my eyes, and I had thought that I didn't have any left. The flower swayed gently in the breeze, soothing my pained heart. I finally drifted off to sleep, scared as any sixteen year old girl trapped in a world that wasn't hers would be.

The night passed uneventfully, I rather enjoyed my little refuge in my flower, which was located in a field, just outside the little town. The sun shone down on my face, its yellow rays illuminating the beauty that I had missed in the dark of the night. I was among the most beautiful flowers that I had ever seen, all colors and shades ranging from the purest white to the darkest black. In the middle of the field, a huge tree lived its life, watching over the little towns sprinkled around it. I stumbled out of the flower, gracefully landing on my face, I sighed and put my hands out to push myself up but the lily I had slept in, gently wrapped its petals around my middle and hoisted me up on my feet. Astonished, I gratefully hugged the stalk and whispered my thanks. The lily, swayed its petals, as if to say, no problem. I smiled, and planned on returning later in the day, after some much needed research. I looked around me, fearing a million white lilies to be swaying in the breeze, making it impossible to find this one. But mine was the only white flower in the field, so my heart was settled.

I left the security of my flower and started across the field, a mission in my head, sorrow in my heart, and determination on my face. I was ready, or so I thought. I think back now, as I tell you my tale, and understand that I was never ready. I wasn't ever ready for anything. That though, my friend, is a tale for another day. The huge tree in the field seemed a good place to start my journey. I danced through the flowers, allowing my sorrow to be washed away, if only for a moment. When I had finally reached the tree, its greatness was not dwarfed in any sense of the word. I was breathless, the tree was bigger than anything I had ever encountered before. It was bigger even than the trees I had seen in the human world. A thought as occurred to me now, perhaps that tree was so splendid because I was so small, it may not have been very large at all. I will always remember it as a giant tree, though, even if my theory is correct. As I approached the tree, my heart began beating faster, there was a natural fear in my heart. The fear was not of a monster or a plot to kill me, but only a fear of failure. While I stood next to this tree, I felt warm, and safe.

I leaned on the strong bark, letting my momentary pain seep into the tree. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, keeping it slow and steady to discourage the feelings of panic that were arising in my heart. When I felt under control I opened my eyes and was greeted by the face of a young fairy staring at me. I jumped, a shriek escaping my lips, and backed away from the fairy. The young fairy giggled, a beautiful sound like that of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees on a chilly fall day, and smiled at me. Then suddenly, it straightened up in a formal gesture, it bowed to me, and I hastily curtsied back and it said,

" Maxwell at your service, my dear. Are you Aubrey?"

I nodded at once, a little confused at the introduction, and also confused at where this little fairy had come from. The fairy was male, he was young, with round rosy cheeks and a mischievous gleam in his eye. Though he was small, he carried himself with a confidence I wished I possesed. He bowed at me again and tilted his head in an invitation to follow. I followed him, wondering how I was going to get anything done, following every fairy that passed me by. Maxwell led me around the tree and he knocked on the healthy bark, and a vine flew down from the branches and he nodded to me to start climbing. His wings fluttered as he jumped into the air and he hovered, waiting for me to climb the vine. I rubbed my hands together, and stepped forward. What I didn't know then was that the vine wasn't for climbing at all. I clasped the vine and instinctively pulled down, and I promptly shot up, screaming and laughing at the same time. Maxwell just silently flew next to me, his face twitching slightly. I was offended at the time, but now I understand how funny it must have been to onlookers.

The vine landed me in the middle of a fairy building, that's as close as I can explain it, anyway. It was quite elegant, flowers being employed from chairs to stairs, and branched of the tree carefully polished to look like wooden flooring. The most breathtaking part of the "building" was the ceiling, when I looked up, the leaves of the tree created a beautiful spiral that opened to the uninterrupted sky above. Thin tendrils of vines crossed above, in the spiral, I learned later that those fine vines were stairs, for those who could no longer fly. And the spiral was a quick exit for those who could. Maxwell stopping my goggling with a clear of his throat, I looked up at him, startled, and he just smiled and began to lead me down the long winding hallways of vines and leaves. I will tell you, though, it was not an easy journey, being that I didn't have any sort of wings or ability to grow them, I had to climb the whole way.

He led me up, he led me down and around, and finally, we made it to the top, the amazing blue sky just above my head. This angle of the tree illuminated the hidden guards stationed all around the tree. They were big, for fairies, and they were dressed in the leaves of the tree that they were protecting. At about this time, it dawned on me that this tree wasn't just a tree, it was a castle. I turned around and I was face to face with the Queen of the Fairy Realm. The Queen was beautiful, unlike the other fairies. Rather than almond shaped eyes, her eyes were big, round and seemed to see through you, her face took a rounder shape than the pinched look of the other fairies, but the most distinctive feature that distinguished her from the others were her wings. Her wings were not the common clear green butterfly-like wings that all the others possessed, hers were a brilliant deep purple, with bright green veins and were more the shape of a dragonfly's wings rather than a butterfly. Her smile was kind, and you could just tell that she was very old and frail, but her heart seemed strong.

I immediately bowed, well, that isn't entirely true. I did bow, of course, after a hiss from Maxwell. I bowed low to the floor and glanced up at the beauty above me from time to time until a guard announced it was OK to rise. I rose slowly and faced the fairy who nodded to me and she said,

"Please, child, explain your reasons for being here. You really don't belong here, in the Fairy Realm. "

The fairy's voice was like that of the wind, it was forceful yet gentle, it could cool a hot day, or destroy a life. I sucked in a big breathe and let it out. When I opened my mouth to speak, I found I could not. I panicked in my mind, as I watched the kind face of the Queen in front of me. I tried again, and felt my eyes widen, I couldn't speak and the Queen was getting impatient. I felt Maxwell pinch my arm, forcing the words out of my mouth in a continual, uninterrupted stream,

"I am here to save my sister I do not know why she is here or where she is or how she got here and I was hoping to get some help in the matter oh please do help me my life and hers are on the line."

The Queen raised her eyebrows and frowned,

"Your sister is a fairy?"

"No, ma'am, she is human but on her eighth birthday, I found out that a fairy was in her place, for research she said. I was told I could come to the Fairy realm, that is, Atlantis, and find her and take her back with me."

The Queen shook her head slowly and looked at Maxwell fleetingly and sighed. She till didn't speak but I watched her face and was becoming more and more worried, her mouth was set into a firm line, her eyebrows were furrowed and her face was turning a light shade of red. She turned towards the guards, leaving me to look, confused at Maxwell, who didn't return my look but shrugged his shoulders. I looked forward, and tried to listen to the conversation the Queen was having with the guards, but they were speaking in a tongue that I could not understand. She turned toward me again, her face was more composed.

"Aubrey, this is hard to tell you, and will be hard on you but you must know the truth."

She sighed, and glanced down and back at my face. I was just a child then, I was panicking as any child would, I could feel the hot tears falling down my face and I could hear the beating of my tortured heart. I stopped breathing as I listened to her gentle words,

" Your sister is gone, Aubrey. You cannot "get" her back. She was the victim of a fairy group that seeks to take babies away and never put them back. She was killed. She will not be found."

Those words engulfed me like the sweltering heat of an oven, and I remember falling into someones strong arms, and was laid on the cool, smooth bark of the tree. Those words have been seared into my heart since that day. Even now. as I speak to you about my adventure, my heart still feels the pain from that day. When I awoke, I was alone except for a sleeping Maxwell ten feet away. I had fainted, and somehow slept into the night. It was pitch black outside and I have to tell you, Atlantis was even more beautiful in the night than during the day. Especially at the angle I had, at the top of this tree, the little towns stood out like glowing flowers. I reveled in the beauty for a moment, but then fell to hysterics, crying and bawling like a baby. My shoulders shook and my body shivered with the breaking of my heart.

At this point, Maxwell had come over to me and awkwardly put his little arms across my shoulders and kept whispering that everything would be okay, but I knew better. This battle was more than just for my sister, is was for me as well. I stumbled out of the tree, with help from Maxwell, who begged me to stay in the tree until morning. I told him no, that I had to be left alone. Once I was among the flowers, he hovered and dropped to the ground, and bowed. I ran to him and hugged the young fairy, who was surprised but took to it well. I back away and he flew off. I ran among the flowers, seeking my own white lily, when I had reached it, I whispered permission to come up. Its petal fell at my feet and I climbed in, my salty tears falling on the perfect petals of this flower. It swayed in the breeze, soothing my broken heart and I eventually drifted to sleep, tears still falling down my red cheeks.

I woke the next day, but I cannot tell you what time it was, because the lily put its petals up like a tent over my body, keeping the sun out and away from my face. I yawned and stretched, my body was stiff, as if I had slept for days, and I may have, because I was extremely hungry. I stroked the petals of my little flower-tent and asked to be let out. The lily stretched its petal out for me to bask in the sun. I slid down the petal it stretched to the ground. I was touched at the great kindness this flower had shown me, and I hugged the stalk gratefully as I whispered my heart felt thanks. And though it embarrasses me to say, I kissed the stalk three times. I laugh now as I look back at my strange behavior but I am happy I did it, because it saved my life. After the third kiss, my beloved flower turned into a fairy.

The fairy was a man, he wasn't nearly as gorgeous as Johnson, but he was quite beautiful. He was tall, taller than any other fairy I had met, and he was wearing sort of medieval clothing, his eyes were a deep green but the most amazing thing about him were his wings. The deep purple with green veins, just as the Queen had. As he stood in front of me, the look on his face gave away the fact that he was just as surprised as I was. He stretched his arms and legs and fluttered his wings. Then, he just stood there, staring at me, his shaggy brown hair in his face, covering one eye. He flipped his hair out of his face and walked toward me slowly I looked up at him, feeling my heart quicken, I felt his hands wrap around me in the warmest and most heartfelt hugs I had ever received. I let go of me and stepped back, smiling and said in a gravely sort of voice that I immediately loved,

" Thank You, Aubrey, thank you. You have saved me from a life of imprisonment in a flower. I must be off now though. Good bye."

Then, he just flew away, I didn't ask him to wait and I didn't run after him, even though I regret that to this day. Unfortunately, that conversation is the only memory I will ever have of him, my knight in flower armor. What people do not understand is that this tale is not a fairy tale, things happen as they do in life. Nothing is perfect, people are rarely who they seem to be, and the regrets that you collect will haunt you for life.

I stood among the flowers, watching the fairy that I should have loved fly away. Tears didn't come, nor was I really sad. I was so numb to every feeling that I felt at this point, that I just purely didn't care. I was in an amazing field of every flower in every shade that one could imagine, but it just looked black and white to me. I sat down on the ground, feeling the bugs bite me and the rocks hurt me, but I still didn't care. I was contemplating everything now, wondering whether to believe that she was gone, but thinking that she was hurt me more. I contemplated suicide, I will not lie. My whole reason for living was gone, in just one sentence. She was my baby more than my parents' I was always more responsible, and to find that that baby was not my sister, and then to find out that I may never find her again was sending me down a spiral of depression, that I was sure I would never get out of.

I sat there in the dirt, hidden by the flowers for days, ignoring my stomach's pleads for food or my body's for sleep, I just sat there, hoping that something or someone would take me out of my misery. I can't even tell you now why I thought someone was going to come rescue me. I did get out of my depression, but no one helped me, I pulled myself up by my "bootstraps", got over my woes, and was ready to do whatever it took to find Maia, even if it meant death. This realization helped me and hurt me because no matter what, someone was going to die because if I did find her alive, I was going to kill the people who told me she wasn't, but if I did find her dead, I was going to die. So, either way, death was going to be the end of my story.

I stood up, and for the first time in three days, I was hungry. It was a staggering pain that shot from my stomach and seeped into my head. I shook my head and headed toward town, I needed food. I wasn't sleepy, I was just ready to stop whining . You must understand, I was ready to start the journey, but I was also ready to die, but in no way suicidal. Depression wasn't playing a role in my decisions, no matter how drastic they were. I lost myself that day, but also found a more important part of me. I lost the part of me that was a shadow over my life, my whineyness, my low self esteem and my weakness. I gained an understanding of life. Before this adventure, I thought that everyone owed me something, that because I wasn't loved as much as Maia, I wasn't loved enough. Although that baby wasn't human and wasn't my true sister, I know it didn't matter. I was loved enough, more than enough, any love is enough and I was sick of complaining, sick of whining about what I didn't have, I was ready to see what I did have, and save what I needed. I was ready to start my life.

I walked toward town, totally confident, but not really thinking through what I was doing. I mean, how was I going to get food? Well, I did get the food, but my actions weren't exactly brag worthy so we'll move on. After I had eaten, and rested for an hour or two, I began contemplating what else I could do to find my sister. There was plenty I hadn't done, such as raising as huge fuss, or keeping hostages but that wasn't going to help, only get me thrown in fairy jail, or whatever they do with criminals. I contemplated going and getting Fae, but I wasn't sure what that would do for me so I decided against it. My last choice was to return to the castle. I was not going to enter with Maxwell again. I was going to sneak in. The mere thought of it sent shivers down my spine. See, if I went in with Maxwell, the same thing would happen again, I wanted to do some investigating on my own, to find out some truth because everything here seemed something it wasn't and I was ready to unmask it.

I walked out of the little town again, stealthily avoiding the shop where I got my food and ran to the field. When I was safe among the flowers, I slowed down, thinking about how I was going to trick the tree's guards into not killing me. When I had finally made it back to the tree, I took a deep breathe and walked toward it. I laid my hand on the warm bark and walked the length of the tree, running my hand around it, vainly hoping to discover a weakness of some sort. What I didn't know was that around fifty arrows were aimed at my head the entire way. When I hadn't found any weakness, as I knew I wouldn't, I huffed and leaned on the tree, upset at my loss and fell in. I fell into the tree, I know how that must sound, but its true! I fell into a room in the tree that I hadn't seen. This was perfect, now I had a way in, but I needed to know where I was.

Up at the ceiling, there was a faint glow that occasionally blacked out, as if someone was walking past it. I felt around the room, it seemed that I was in an old storage room, I could feel decorations and old chairs and such, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out the outlines of tables and bookshelves. I climbed around them, quietly as I could, occasionally knocking something down in spite of myself, and the shadows would stop moving, as would my heart. They would start again, and so would my heart, if not faster than before. When I had come directly below the light on the ceiling, I looked up and I had misjudged how high it was, I needed to climb up on something to peek out. How lucky I was, amongst these chairs and tables. But I was also unlucky, because I am a klutz, and the mere thought of having to stack tables and chairs and then climb them, without making noise was causing me to panic, and make more noise then I normally would. I stopped and took a deep breathe, willing my panicking mind to just calm down. I stood there for a few minutes, and then started again, with a bit more control.

After I had stacked the all the tables, I gingerly began climbing them. It was definitely a heart stopping moment when I had finally made the journey to the top. I didn't dare look down, I was already shaking all over anyway. I slowly raised my wobbly arms to the light only a foot above my head and groped at the edge, hoping the shadows didn't notice my straining fingers, and pulled myself up. Now, I could have stood up, but I didn't dare it. I was afraid my tower of tables would crash, giving me away and leaving me at the ceiling. My heart was beating sporadically now, I was sure the shadows above me could hear it, but they kept moving. I took three deep breaths and pulled myself to the light, and promptly fell back down, my hand covering my mouth, which was screaming. I landed with a crash on the tables and they all fell, me on the top. I was jostled about, and fell the ten feet and skidded under the bookcase. I was still screaming. What I saw in that room will be seared in my heart forever. But, my friends, I will not tell you what my unsuspecting eyes witnessed, for it is too gruesome for me to recount.

After my Fall, I could hear the voices and the wings fluttering, I was sure this was to be my demise, my last adventure. I had stopped screaming and I was listening to the voices outside the door, they were contemplating whether or not to bring the guards. Finally, a voice that I recognized as Maxwell, said,

" Oh, come on! There are ten of us here, I think we'll be fine! I'll go first if you are concerned for your safety!"

The door swung open, and his eyes swept the room and fell on me, I mouthed to him that I wasn't there. His eyes seemed sad, seeing me there and he shook his head. Maxwell jumped into the air, his wings humming as he appraised the area, looking for accomplices. Tears were falling down my face, I was never going to find her, I was just going to die. He looked at the little huddled crowd by the door, only a few had ventured out of the doorway and he announced,

" I don't see anyone here. They must have left, check the other storage rooms, I will clean up. The Queen will not be pleased if I leave it like this."

The others nodded curtly, and shut the door on their way out. I looked up at Maxwell, my shock echoed on his face. We were in the dark, but his wings produced enough light for me to see him. I was stuck under the bookshelf, tables blocking my way. He began cleaning, he was much stronger the he looked. One table caused me strain, he was picking up three or four. He put everything the way it was and fluttered to the ground. He looked at me, anger and pity etched on his face. Where I stood looking up at him, he looked much older, more my age than the young fairy I thought he was. I slid out from under the bookshelf, and stood up facing him.

" Aubrey, What do you think you are doing?!"

His voice was full of anger now, all traces of pity were gone.

'I-I was trying to-"

"Trying to what, exactly?! Trying to get yourself killed, and me in the process?! Do you know what will happen to me if they find out I didn't turn you in? I don't know why you came back, they told you what happened, just accept it and move on Aubrey. Move on, stop trying to hurt yourself, and now me. Do you think that will help you?"

He was shaking slightly, as if that brief outburst had caused him great pain. I opened my mouth a few time to speak, but I found that I couldn't say anything back. I knew he was right, but I had to hold on to something, didn't I? I didn't say a word, I just shook my head and started crying, but I stopped, remembering my sole purpose for being here. I drew myself up and took a step forward, Maxwell looked worried now, and I yelled, anger poring ut of me, more than I thought I had,

" Move on?! You want me to move on? And do what? Just go home without my sister? Accept that shes dead, that your race killed for no particular reason? Who are you to tell me to move on? My God, Maxwell, you don't even know me, what made you think you could talk to me like that?"

"I don't know you!? I saved your life, and this is the thanks I get?"

His anger had taken over now, we were both yelling, inching forward at every argument.

" I am grateful for that, but I am NOT grateful for your lies for your illusions. How old are you anyway?"

"Why does that even matter?"

We were face to face now, his amber eyes locked on my blue ones. And then we were kissing, a furious sort of bitter kiss, but I returned it. He did save my life.