20.

The Anima brought us to a quaint cottage further downstream, huddled in the centre of a small clearing, yellow daisies blooming on the moss covered walls.  Once inside, she shoved the men down upon the coaches in the dining room, pushed me into a chair opposing them and threw a large chunk of meat out the front door for Beast to feed upon. She busied herself in the kitchen, pots clanking as she prepared us all tea and honey biscuits. We all exchanged weary glances, the men's eyes glued to the floor to avoid glancing at the lady's naked body, that she still had not covered with anything but her liquid black hair.

I peered around the room, absorbing every detail of the woman's home, attempting to understand just where her power came from. There were landscape paintings hung high on the wooden panel walls, tiny vines growing through the cracks of the floor curling around the golden frames. A fireplace cracked in the corner of the room, licking the air with its blue and red tongues and consuming the logs laid upon the hearth. My fingers sunk into the fur of my chair; all the furniture covered in lavish animal hides with prints unrecognisable to my human eyes. I could not see any of the other rooms, but I imagined them to be as homely as the one I sat comfortably in and undisturbed by the silence that had crept into the throats of the men in the room, sleeping upon their tongues.

"Here. This tea will help you all process the following information and allow me to gather what I need." The woman spoke formally as she entered the room bearing a large teapot and several floral cups.

Again, she passed those golden eyes over our faces, waiting for us to drink the concoction she laid before us on a small coffee table. A smile crept upon my lips as the men continued to stare blindly at the floor, choosing not to look and see the true beauty of the goddess before them. I reached for the cups and poured them all a generous amount of the liquorish smelling tea, saving the strong brew that I knew to be at the bottom of the pot for myself. I sipped it hastily, noting it was not scalding, and then chugged it down quickly. My vision blurred if only for a moment before I could refocus. I could feel it; my mind clearing of its built up congestion, the festering questions which had brewed in the corners for too long.

A wider smile grew upon my face and I looked up to see the woman smiling back. Like everything else about her, her teeth were flawlessly white, blinding even, creating a great contrast to her dark skin. When I truly recognised her good intentions, my mind opened to her just as it had to the Gryphon. With her delicate fingers she quickly plucked through my memories, as if not to alarm me by her presence in my mind, until she found the moments she was looking for. I felt her zooming in, eyes squinting, particularly upon my past few weeks. Each time she shuffled past a memory, it flashed behind my eyes: Lucas' disappearance, my sister's necklace, being dragged from my home, my first night in the forest, confronting the Prince on the balcony, and the night of the storm. None of it bothered me; until she found the one thing I had kept hidden from the entire group, fearing that she would believe the words of the Shadow creature and correlate them to the visions. But like a hawk observing a field full of rabbits, she could see my fear too, the weakness that lay within me, and in turn she had nothing to fear from me. I was the rabbit, a baby rabbit that she could have easily ensnared in her sharp talons, but she did not have her eyes on me.

The Anima pulled herself from my mind and zeroed in on the Fae men, waiting for them to take their first sip. As soon as they did, I sensed she entered their minds just as she had done to mine, rifling through their memories like CD's in a flip case. Occasionally, she'd grunt in disapproval, and even snickered once inside Lucius' mind, sending a flush of embarrassment across his cheeks. But the Prince did not give into the drink as easily as the rest of us had; he stared at the cup as if it were a source of evil.

"Drink it, young Prince. I will not rifle through the moments you do not wish to revisit. I only look for what you need to remember." She was softer with him than she was with the rest of us, which surprised me. He seemed to be the strongest of us all, at least in regard to his psychic and his own representation of himself.

We could all see it on his face, the fear. But he knew as well as we did that he was no longer in charge, and her request would quickly turn into an order. He skulled the bitter tea and waited for the woman to enter his mind. She was done in moments, pulling her gaze away from the man and seating herself on one of the other couch chairs.

"Now I know everything, I will begin from the start. I know all the questions that lay in your minds, and although one of you may know the answer to some, others do not. So I begin with Lyra, and her question of my own origin."

Her low voice was captivating and as she began the tale of her life we were all already lost to her power and the answers we would find from within it.

"I am The Anima, the heart of the First Plane. I was the first Fae to be born from the earth, emerging from the tree bark that built the house we sit in today." She sighed; she too was trapped in this encounter with the past, and there would be no way out except for travelling forwards to the present. "Although I need not know it at the time, the fate of this world rested upon my life. Just as the earth had given me life, I had given it a soul. The trees soon did breathe, and the barren land I had awoken too grew green. Rivers sprouted while I grew thirsty; fire burst from the earth when I was cold; apple trees began to flower when I grew hungry. But while the earth had my soul, still I grew lonely. I birthed the first Fae male from the soil under my toes, a fire pixie from old ash, and water sprites from the tears that fell from my very eyes. And from my breath, a beautiful winged creature was born. For a time, we lived in happiness, peace. But when an argument became physical, and my creature killed my male companion, something changed. A part of me, a part of my soul, split from the earth and travelled somewhere else, somewhere dark. It rested in the darkness of grief that lurked in the air and grew its own world; the Shadow Plane. My perfect little world became dark. With my grief, all the flowers wilted, the fruits rot, and the Fae began to fall ill. Before I could grasp my emotions, the pixie died of cold." The Anima's voice was devoid of emotion, speaking in the same robotic formal voice that masked the internal war raging within her. I had forgotten about the Shadow Plane, but not the Shadow horse, and I was intrigued.

"While my world crumbled, the Shadow's thrived off its demise and grew larger with each miserable tear that fell from my eyes. It was only when I rebirthed two more Fae that the world began to balance. I made them King and Queen, Sam's ancestors, and slowly began to build a kingdom for all Fae, one filled with happiness that the shadows could not touch. But I failed yet again to recognise the importance of balance. Just when the Kingdom began to thrive, corruption sunk into the heart of the Queen who had ruled for the previous hundred years. She had forgotten everything I had taught them, to appreciate the world and it would appreciate them. So with their neglect came the darkness. The earth had told me it was time to start again, renew the land of the corrupted souls. So when the darkness came, it passed judgement upon each Fae it touched. If they proved too dark for this plane, they passed over to the Shadow Plane, staying there for the rest of their lives."

"The Umbra?" Lucius asked.

"Yes. That is what the people called it."

The Anima's eyes shot to my face, knowing I recognised the words that left Lucius mouth. Before I could ask it's meaning, demanding more answers, I felt something twitch in my mind. The Anima didn't want me to say anything. In fact, it felt as if she was deliberately trying to push that memory from my mind, possibly to make me forget,

"The Umbra... she is my other half, the part that split from me. She has only come into this Plane once before, but I feel it is time for the darkness to come again. The Fae have become too privileged, forgetting their roots. If you do come into your powers, I hope you remind them of their origins."

"I hope that explains to you, Lyra, some of the questions you have about this place."

Although my confusion was stronger than it was before we had spoken, I knew I could not disrespect her by pressing further. So I nodded and sat back into my chair. I also wondered if Alvar still wanted to take me home, if I wanted that. Because longer I stayed in this Plane, the more it began to feel like it truly was my home, and visits to my old life would be enough. If only my sister could leave our small home on Earth and travel to this fantastical plane with me.

"Now, as I explain the important events that have brought you all here today, I want no interruptions. This may cause some confusion, but you can dwell over the details tonight.

We all nodded, the men continuing to look anywhere but at the woman. My lips quirked, a smile hinting on my lips. Alvar looked up at me then and saw the smile on my lips. The corner of his lips drew upwards as he saw my amusement. We shared a small internal laugh, him sensing the source of my smile, and he covered his mouth with his hands as the other two men shot us glares. And as The Anima began to speak again, I felt Alvar's eyes upon me, not shifting until the entire conversation was over.

"The first day Lyra came through to this Plane, the shadows claimed another piece of my soul. But, to preserve my existence, the earth gave a piece of me to you. Out of all souls that lived in this world, it chose you. For what reason, even I do not know. The earth tells me many things, but it will not tell me why."

I frowned, unsure of how I should be absorbing this information. The feeling of Alvar's gaze was comforting, easing my racing heartbeat.

"Alvar first witnessed the signs of my life when you drew water from the earth to fuel yourself when both men neglected to give you water. Sam witnessed it too, when you destroyed the flowers on the balcony of the palace out of anger. Both men discussed this when you were not around, and plotted to get you out of the kingdom, each for their own reasons, using that power. As we are all
Aware, you started a storm, which scattered all Fae in the area and were able to quickly make your escape. But the night you banished, the Prince returned to find someone wearing your face dripping poison into the Kings ear. It was the Shadow you encountered before your first performance; by touching you it gained the ability to use your likeness to its advantage. That is when the Prince began to trail you, believing that hunting you down would fix it all."

"So it wasn't her?" The Prince breathed, his eyes shooting up to meet mine. I saw the apology in his eyes, but turned away, still angry he had attacked me.

"No. It was not her." She paused, allowing the information to sink in.

It baffled me that a shadow could steal my face and angered me more than the Princes action. I couldn't completely process that information either before the woman started again.

"As for the visions you two share, that has nothing to do with me. That is your own doing. Both of your subconsciousness was telling you something. In this case, it seemed that if you two paired, it would bring a quick demise to the kingdom. But don't read that so literally. As I have said, that shadows are coming whether we want them too or not, because there is a darkness in us all that wants to be felt."

My eyes shot up to the Prince, both our eyes narrowing. The disgust was evident behind both our eyes; there was no chance we would end up comforted in each other's embrace. The shadows could wait as long as they wanted; I would never lie with the man who had only that day attempted to kill me. His eyes sparkled, like he was angry I felt disgusted by him, even though I felt his own nausea at the thought of a relationship between us.

"Now I need to ask a question." The Anima's voice pulled my gaze away from Sam. "Are you aware your sister is a witch?"

"What?" I snapped rudely, shock removing all formality from my voice. I had never believed my sisters ramblings, but the first appearance of the Gryphon had certainly sparked a suspicion within me that it was a possibility.

"Yes." The Anima nodded, clearly not bothered by my sudden surge of informality. "The necklace you wear, its charmed."

"Charmed?" I said, even more shocked than before. I remembered briefly my sister mentioning it would give me clarity, but never guessed it was true.

"It appears it is protecting you from the shadows." She stood from her chair and closed the distance between us and picked up the stone still tied to my neck. "It emits an aurora, golden. It was only when you took it off that the Kelpie was able to talk to you. It is important you keep this on," She pushed the thought into my mind, leaving an impression in my brain to never want to take it off, "keep it on."

I nodded, frowning at the throbbing in my skull, and took the stone back off her palm and let it fall onto my chest. I wasn't sure if I could take it off, now that she had imprinted the image in my mind.

"What about the other things that have been happening to me?" I said after a moment, fearing if I didn't ask I would never find the answers on my own.

"The healing?" The Anima asked, and the Gryphon perked up, becoming present in my mind.

"Yes." I replied, licking my lips. Is that what she was calling it? But it felt so much more than just... healing.

"It came to you when another piece of me was destroyed, as will the rest of my abilities. Once I am gone, your abilities will be infinite. But you are able to heal the Gryphon without tiring as he has made an imprint on you."

"Imprint?" I asked, completely confused.

"Yes, you are now a piece of him. A possession of sorts. So if you die, so does he. I believe this formed when you first healed him, the first time you saw one another, and you must have accidentally gave a piece of your soul over to him."

"Is this true?" I asked the Gryphon, delicately reaching out with my mind.

"Yes." He replied glumly, apologetically. "I am sorry if I have upset you. It is not under my control."

"It's okay." I said, frowning at how easily it was for me to forgive him.

I was unsure if that was also a part of our new connection. The idea was intriguing to me, knowing I shared my mind with the beautiful and dangerous creature that had protected me since I had arrived in this Plane. I will just have to try extra hard not to die. I laughed, slouching back into my chair. 

"I won't let that happen, Lyra. He spoke softly into my mind, soothingly." Beast said, listening into my thoughts.

After a stretched silence where the men in the room exchanged their own glances, the Anima spoke up again.

"I know there is one more thing I must address. Sam has seen it, but no one else can as only the Royal can identify it." Alvar looked concerned and Lucius intrigued. Then she turned to me, "Lyra, you have no shadow."

"No shadow?" I replied abruptly. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"When you crossed over, the force made your soul split, just as mine did to create the Shadow Plane. You are only half of yourself, perhaps the original or perhaps the doppelgänger. But there is another... well another you somewhere in this Plane. She too would be inheriting my powers. When it comes down to my death, only one of you will be able to exist in a Plane at a time. You will need to decide which Plane is yours; the shadow, the human or the First."

It was then that I felt not only Alvar's hard stare, but also the shocked gaze of Lucius and the cold eyes of Sam.

"So you're telling me I have a doppelgänger?" I cried, pulling my hair at the roots. This was sounding more maddening with each word that left her mouth.

"Or you are the doppelgänger." The prince muttered, and I shot him a glare. I would know if I weren't myself, or at least, my whole self. It wasn't right, it couldn't be right.

"Calm down, Lyra." Beast spoke softly in my mind, our bond grown since our collective healing. "I know it is hard to hear, but they are telling the truth. If it is a comfort, when you healed me I touched your soul. It had darkness, just like everyone, but it was also gold."

"Gold?" I pushed back into his mind.

"Yes. Not red like The Umbra. Gold like The Anima."

- end of part 2 -

Hey guys! We are now officially half way through, 50 000 words later! 

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xx Charli

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