Chapter 5

Allie

There was only Jenny left to explain her role and for some reason I was hesitant to ask her. What did I call her? Jenny or Queen Maybell? We had all heard of the fairy queen and most of us had a healthy fear of her. I wasn’t sure how to connect that person, to my Jenny, who was the nicest person I had ever met. So being me I just decided to go for it.

“So, the Fairy Queen hey,” I asked her “I kind of thought you’d look different to be honest. I’ve grown up on stories of you and I have to say…...you are not what I expected!” I felt Masen step up behind me and rest his hand on my lower back. I leant back into his strength which I needed more than I realised.

All of a sudden, Jenny became Queen Maybell before my eyes and holy wow!! Her beauty was astounding. I looked at Fadden and saw a moment of naked longing on his face before he saw me watching. His expression changed to the one of self-mockery that he wore most times. Whilst I was secretly impressed with her transformation, I wasn’t about to let Jenny know.

“Huh, you do have the beauty thing happening, that’s for sure. But you know, I thought you would be like the books said. Terrible yet beautiful. Fear wrapped in a pretty package.” I hoped the tremor in my voice wasn’t too noticeable. Masen rubbed my back in small circles and that felt really, really good.

“Oh, I can do terrible too.” Jenny replied. Her eyes then started to swirl with black streaks and red flares.

“Yep. You got the scary right there.”  My heart was racing and my breath was choppy just watching her. “How have you hidden yourself for so long? And why?”

Fadden stepped forward impatiently. “Allie, I told you earlier, we have been waiting for you. All our hopes rest with you and your merry little band. My Queen was here to help guide you. Unfortunately, you like to go your own way regardless of what advice is given to you”

There was a growling noise coming from behind me. I turned to see Masen glaring at Fadden.

“You need to watch how you speak to Allie, Fairy. She’s mine now and I will defend her. Even against you!” Masen’s voice was low and filled with menace.

“Oh, calm down, Mase. We’ve been friends for too long for me to speak in riddles. We need Allie to start using her powers. That will take a lot of practice.” Fadden started pacing in front of me. “My Queen, do I have your permission to inform Allie of what’s needed of her?”

Jenny nodded her head. “But gently, my Fadden, gently.” She smiled at the tall fairy. “Use your inside voice and remember this is all new to Allie.”

I suddenly felt full of apprehension and a healthy dose of fear. I looked around wondering if there was any escape.

 “I’m right here with you," Masen whispered in my ear. "I'll always be here with you."

"Right, here goes. Allie, now that you have met Masen your powers will start to show themselves to you. Your biggest and most powerful ability is that you will be able to act as a channel for everyone else and magnify their powers. This is what we need you to practice with. I know you are strong enough to deal with all this. I've watched you this last year and you are immensely talented. Your ability to control animals is something else we need to work with. There are lots of animals we can use in our fight against The Darkness. Training will start tomorrow. You will carry the weight of The Few with you which is why you are so special."

I opened my mouth to answer, then shut it. I honestly had no idea what to say. I’d spent my life thinking that I was just an average person even with being one of The Few, and now they are all telling me I’m some kind of special weapon and I’ve also just met my One and somehow, I’m supposed to be okay with it all. I am strong. I am here to fight the good fight but far out, people! This is re writing my entire life. I wasn’t all that worried about the secrets that had been kept because I knew my friends and I could trust them in any situation. Obviously, The Darkness was getting worse. We needed to have a plan of attack ready. All those lessons of Fadden’s now made sense. He could test us and our mind game ability to see where our strengths and weaknesses were. My weakness is lack of focus. Pretty things, shiny things, they all make me lose my concentration. A cliché? Maybe. I wondered what Masen’s powers were. He was being very quiet now and that made me nervous. I still didn’t know what to do with him. Well that’s not true, I knew what I wanted to do with him, I just didn’t think we’d have time. I realised that while he was quiet he had never stopped touching me and this made me feel secure and a bit gooey inside. Outside of my fascination with the beautiful man behind me, I knew I needed more information.

“Jenny. Wait do I still call you Jenny?” I interrupted myself.

Jenny smiled at me and nodded. “I’m still Jenny. I always have been; I just have different versions of Jenny.”

“Cool. So, then Jen, what are the plans of the Fairies? How do I fit in? How do we all fit in?” The questions came out rapid fire as I thought of them. “Sala, are you one The Powers That Be?”

“Yes, I am.  I’m your direct liaison with them now that you are aware of who I am. Anything you need; I will try to get it for you. I think though that Chris and Jimmy will be of more use to you. What they can access is amazing and I’m a little bit jealous of their connections!” Sala stared at Chris with her big puppy dog eyes and a hopeful smile.

Chris laughed and said “Sala, you have it all wrong. We know people, you’re right, but you, you are the people! Okay, Allie, we can get you any amount of people and animals you want. Our community has also been preparing for you for a long time. Don’t let that stress you though. Focus on the here and now. I think what you really need is the unicorns and the grass dwellers to be briefed on what you require of them. Jimmy and I are still limited with our powers so we will do all the running around and the mobilising of everyone. Jenny and Fadden can do a lot of their stuff from here which is good because both you and Masen need extra protection now. Speaking of powers,” he turned to Masen, “what are your powers?”

Masen seemed a bit uncomfortable at the question and looked to Fadden for what seemed like permission before he answered. “My main one is mind reading with the added benefit of mind bending. I’ve had years to learn how to control it around people that I don’t want to read. I still seem to be very aware of peoples’ thoughts but that could be because most people don’t try very hard to hide them. My other ones are a lot more physical.”

Fadden snorted with laughter at that. “And it took a lot of training to get him to this level.” He looked at me smirking. “He did learn some talents on his own though. I’ll let you judge his abilities there.”

“Fadden!” Jenny’s voice was sharp. “We need to discuss our next moves. It’s time for us to leave for a bit.”

“Wait, wait, wait! I thought you were here for my protection?” I yelped.

“Just yours?” Masen asked wryly.

“Oh, shove it.” I snapped at him. “Are you really leaving?” I directed my question at Fadden and Jenny only to discover that they were already gone. “I hate it when fairies do that!”

Jimmy walked over to me and slung his arm over my shoulders. Again, Masen growled behind me. Hmmm it seemed he had a bit of a possessive streak. I smiled at him and turned back to Jimmy.

“We’re okay, aren’t we?” I asked my long-time friend.

“Always.” He replied. “Always. You and Braveboy back there, need to go be together. Alone. You both have so much to work out and the tension between you is driving us all insane. Get rid of it and we’ll all work better. Chris and I are going to work on our contacts. We should have some unicorns and some form of grass dwellers here in the morning. I think Sala is going to ask for backup security from her superiors. Now it’s time for you to go.” Jimmy hugged me tightly before nodding his head at Masen and walking away.

 My heart ached at the thought of causing him pain but I couldn’t change what was happening. I held my hand up, knowing that Masen would grab it straight away. “Well then,” I said to him a bit nervously “I guess it’s time to show you my home.”