The Outcast
Chapter 15: Message from Xalina

Despite their intentions, for four months neither Lily, Finn, nor Xalina were able to replace any information that they hadn’t already known. Everything they found, and everywhere they looked proved to give the same unmatching stories that they had already discussed.

No matter what she had expressed to those back home, the council were adamant that the witches must be hiding their plans until the due time and that Lily ought to keep digging. They would not give her one ounce of their time to consider whether everything was all just a lie from history which did not need to be repeated again. Lily found that her efforts were being put foremost in replaceing evidence to support that this was a war that didn’t need to occur, for she grew more desperate to be allowed to be a fairy with witches as her friends.

Her friendship with Dia and Tanith grew deeper with every day that passed, Tanith regularly sleeping in their room with them; on Lily’s bed because Dia tended to wriggle and kick in her sleep. At least on Lily’s bed, Tanith only has to contend with two cats who slept on Lily at all times; they hadn’t beforehand, but Oscar and Kiki’s protectiveness had led them to begin doing so after Tanith had started to join them. Something about being able to spot if Lily’s appearance potion was fading through the dark and being able to wake her up quietly if they needed to.

They teased her regularly about her ‘relationship’ with Finn, calling them adorable for having done nothing more than the occasional peck of a kiss. Honestly, Lily didn’t know what else they expected them to have done, but the last night of the spring months was no different in their talks after they had finished practicing the transmutation of objects into books with the Liberatio spell.

“How do we turn them back again?” Tanith asked as they looked over the pile of blank books they had created on Lily’s bed out of every object they could replace in the room.

“We do this every time and you still don’t remember?” Lily looked slightly horrified at the concept. She had become more vocal with her thoughts in recent months, especially within those four walls of her dorm room. “Warlock Mayai will have your head if they replace out!”

“You’re still such a goody two shoes.” Dia chuckled. Over the months, the pair had become more relaxed about lessons while Lily had gotten more uptight. She had shown an excessive amount of studying in the beginning and felt she now had to keep it up lest she raise suspicion. “Surely you can relax for a bit! At this rate, you’ll have read every book in the library by the end of the year here. We’ve only got three months left.”

“Three months which include exams!” Lily grumbled. She was terrified of tests. What if someone noticed she wasn’t the same as the other witches here? The practical exams were supposed to be in front of the teachers only; Lily had to get it perfect so that no one questioned the fact her magic was deep in her blood as fairy magic.

“As if we could forget! We’re constantly studying with you, remember?” Dia retorted. “It’s any wonder Finn can get dates out of you these days. Or do you guys have study dates?” She added with a smirk.

Pouting slightly, Lily shook her head as she raised her wand to point at the first book on the pile. “Novisatio” she flicked her wrist and the previous spell reversed leaving a pillow in the space the book had sat. “We sometimes study…” she admitted quietly to a burst of ruckus laughter from the pair.

“Well, maybe he just likes a goody-two-shoes.” Dia teased.

“He has to, otherwise you’d think he’d have brought up the fact she never goes to his dorm at night. Or asks Dia to stay in my room.” Tanith snickered.

“I told you, I’m not interested in that kind of stuff.”

“Offt! Poor Finn. He must have the patience of a saint.”

“Or... I just really like her and respect her boundaries?” The voice from the window made them jump. Finn’s face smiled at them from where the window was ajar. His stoat companion nudged through the gap ahead of Finn. He didn’t come into the bedroom often, he was usually found venturing in the grass areas around the dormitories. Kiki joined him quite often to play in the green warmth. “Can you stop teasing my girlfriend and let me in?”

Lily didn’t blush as badly now when she was referred to as such things, four months had increased her immunity. Instead, she laughed softly and moved over to the window to push it open further, realising as she did so that Finn was using a charmed board to fly up to their window.

“You really favour the boards, huh?” She murmured as she stepped back to let him in.

“They look coolest!” Finn defended as he hopped through the window and set the board against the wall beside Lily’s bed. “Hey, babe.” He added, kissing Lily on the cheek which did still cause her to flush softly.

“Lily prefers just walking through the air with the charmed shoes.” Dia chuckled.

“It is the easiest way to do it.” Tanith countered watching as Lily continued to turn the transmutated books back to their original forms.

“It’s not as fun though,” Dia grumbled.

“Being able to fly is fun no matter what it is making me fly.” Lily sighed lightly as the final book switched back into the chair from Dia’s desk.

“It’s cute that she likes the simple things,” Finn chortled.

“Obviously, otherwise she wouldn’t like you” Tanith jibed as Finn gasped in mock horror, placing his hand over his heart as though he had been wounded.

“Tan!” Lily half laughed in surprise, gaining only a wink back from her dark-haired friend. “That was mean.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true!” Dia joined in the laughter as Finn pulled Lily back to half hug her and half hide behind her.

“Bullies!” He chimed with a lightness of joy in his voice. His arm around her waist still brought a slight flush to her cheeks, Lily still unable to get used to the feeling of being touched so casually with affection. She reacted the same when Dia jumped on her with a hug as well, and whenever Tanith gave her a cheeky kiss on the cheek followed by an innocent smile. It wasn’t embarrassment, it was just sheer delight at the fact she had friends in her life who wanted her close. It had become a very addicting feeling.

“Don’t use her as a shield,” Dia laughed.

“Yeah, you know I’ll side with them,” Lily interjected as she glanced over her shoulder at those large green eyes which looked at her in mock horror.

“The betrayal!” Finn yelped as he pulled away from Lily and plonked himself down on the chair by her desk, folding his arms across his chest as he pouted. “I’ll never get closer to you than those two, will I?”

Lily laughed softly and shrugged slightly “Well, I do spend all my time with them.”

“Without complaint!” Dia chimed in.

“Definitely without complaint.” Lily agreed fondly.

“Well…” Finn sighed in defeat. “It’s a good thing I like your friends too, eh?” Reaching out to take hold of Lily’s hand to pull her closer. “However, I am going to steal you for a while for a walk, if that’s ok?”

Ignoring the long ‘oo’ sounds from behind her, Lily nodded softly with a smile on her lips. They did this every week at least once, letting their friends think it had become a weekly date so that they could talk over anything they had found out in lessons. So far though, they had found nothing, so the walks basically were dates; holding hands and talking about one another and laughing about their lives and the events in it.

“Take your tiiiime” Dia and Tanith sang in unison as Finn got to his feet and headed to the door with his charmed board in the other hand, dragging Lily along who waved back to her friends shaking her head at the kissing faces they were pulling.

“Considering we still haven’t kissed in front of them, it amazes me they haven’t started to catch on.” Finn chortled quietly beside her once they were safely outside.

“Well, the idea of kissing makes me a little uncomfortable still, so I think they just think I’d too shy to kiss with an audience as I get overly flustered whenever they nag me about it.” Lily shrugged softly, knowing well that Finn understood that Lily had no interest in physical intimacies. It worked well for the ploy they had going because she couldn’t make him uncomfortable either.

“True. And even without it, you’re the most fun girlfriend I’ve ever had.” Finn grinned. “Like we actually laugh, and can actually be real with each other.” His words and his smile brought a grin on her lips which got hidden as she ducked her head. She was real with him, everything about her was becoming common knowledge to Finnigan Byrne, and she felt safer every day that it was.

“And we don’t judge each other.”

“Well, we do. But never in malice” Finn corrected, joining her laughter as he pulled her a little closer while they walked through the corridors of the school and out of the gates. They always walked around the exterior, never far enough to cause suspicion, but far enough so their ‘date’ couldn’t be overheard.

“That’s true. I definitely judge how much time you spend on your hair in the mornings.” Lily stuck her tongue out as Finn immediately reached up to check his messy style which was held perfectly in place.

“I don’t take that long. I’ve almost perfected the spell for this.” Finn whined a little as he pulled at the strands that reached his eyebrow. “Besides, surely you take longer as a girl!”

“I spend half my nights looking for information or studying so I can keep making sure I look like a witch when I perform spells. Do you really think I wake up early enough to do anything in the mornings?” Lily laughed at the look of surprise on Finn’s face. “You seriously didn’t think of that?”

“Erm… no, actually. Huh. Maybe Tanith was right, maybe you do get on with me because I AM simple.”

His words brought them both into ruckus laughter.

“I like you because you’re accepting, kind, you make me laugh and you make me feel good about being myself,” Lily responded when she could breathe properly again.

“There’s nothing you shouldn’t feel good about.” Finn squeezed her hand with a smile. “If you weren’t different, you wouldn’t be here. So, I’m pretty glad about it.”

“Charmer.”

“It’s not charm if it’s an honest truth, I think.”

“If you two are done flirting…” Came a voice from behind them, making them both jump with a yelp. Spinning around they both saw nothing until a small cough sounded from the ground. Oscar sat with one fang on show while his mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk. “You’re such a believable couple even when no one is around.”

They both flushed, dropping their hold on each other’s hand awkwardly.

“And so easy to wind up” Oscar chuckled, pawing slightly at the floor. “Unfortunately, I have a more important message from Xalina so I’ll wait to tease you next time.”

“Xalina? Is she ok?” Lily asked, her tone changing quickly to one of concern.

“She’s good, she just came to tell us that she heard something from the elders of her clan. It might just be folktales but it’s something to look at.” The fact that he was licking at his paw in between sentences should have given it away that it wasn’t urgent and Xalina wasn’t in trouble, really.

“Well, folktales are better than what we have to go on at the moment.” Finn half scoffed.

“Good point,” Oscar conceded. “Well, according to an elderly lady there, who; I must point out that Xalina made very clear, is known as the clan’s crazy lady, said that she once heard that the secrets of history could be found hidden behind the waters of myth.”

Lily blinked at the cat. “Huh?”

“That was what Xalina said. But the lady was apparently very insistent about it, and kept repeating herself while getting wound up until Xalina just called it quits and decided to pass on the information anyway.” Oscar shrugged his shoulders lightly before readjusting to scratch behind his ear with his left hind leg.

“Hidden behind the waters of myth?” Lily echoed in confusion. “Is it a riddle?”

For many minutes, there was silence between them as their minds were racked for any idea of what that could mean. Lily had read all sorts of books in the library, and among those were books on legends and myths so that she could make sure she knew the stories behind the legendary creatures that the dormitories were named after.

“I don’t remember reading any myths related to water…” she mused out loud after going through every story in her mind.

“Hang on.” Finn held up a finger to show he was thinking through something. “What if it’s not a myth, but she’d forgotten the full name of the old castle that’s now become our city? Mythanissiam. Back then the castle was just called Mythan, I think.”

“That could be it!” Lily exclaimed while Oscar hopped up onto his feet.

“It would be a good hiding place for the truth about anything as it’s a place that has existed the whole time. But where would people have not discovered in five thousand years?” Oscar chimed in.

“Dunno. Old dungeons?” Finn shrugged.

“How is that behind water though?” Lily asked.

“Well, there used to be an entrance to the dungeons from the sea. Maybe that’s still a possibility and the other entrances were sealed up?” Finn scrabbled for an explanation off the top of his head.

“Looks like we should focus our study on Mythanissiam, maybe the history section will give us better ideas of where water could hide something that old.” Lily sighed softly, wondering where to start in the history section. So far, she had stuck to the broad history books about the races rather than about the settlements so there would still be plenty to go through. Finn, however, curled his lip with a long-defeated sigh.

“That’s going to be a boring task. Searching history books about the castle is bad enough but having to try and replace anything about water is just going to end up with us reading about water and waste systems.” He groaned. “Reading is bad enough in the first place.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“You’re such a nicor.” Finn rolled his eyes fondly as he spoke, though his words gained a blank expression from Lily. “It’s just a teasing way to call a smart person. Came from the old unicorns having vast knowledge so people just took part of the word.” Clearly, he had forgotten that the slang in one race was very different from another.

“Oh. I hadn’t even heard about unicorns until I came here.”

“True, though I’m surprised that you haven’t heard of nicor already.”

“No, so far it’s been ‘teacher’s pet’, ‘brainiac’, or ‘bookwyrm’.” Lily shrugged softly. “Though I quite like bookwyrm.”

“Really? Why?”

Lily tilted her head at the question “Because, from what I’ve read, wyrm’s were like wingless dragons. Still awesome, still powerful, just wingless… and I suppose it makes me feel cooler?”

“Isn’t she cute?” Oscar piped up from beside her as Finn nodded with a strange smile on his face.

“Alright, forever bookwyrm it is.”

“Lil is fine.”

“Nope! I, now and forever, dub you bookwyrm. Soon to be the bookwyrm who took down an age-old war.” Finn grinned at the pout that appeared on Lily’s face, and while he continued to grin, she could feel that pout begin to break into a smile she desperately tried to fight off.

“And there you guys go again” Oscar sighed dramatically. “You should think about whether you are actually dating properly at this point!”

“Well, I wouldn’t complain.” Finn chortled as Lily picked up the large black cat and supported his weight as he rested on her right shoulder. Lily shot him a look that said she didn’t believe him. “What? I wouldn’t. You always make me smile.”

“You’re being charming again.” Lily pointed out as she began to retrace their steps back to the main school grounds.

“We’ve already covered this. Not charm; just honesty.” Finn’s hand came to link into hers, and for a moment Lily actually gave it another thought. In the beginning, she had over thought everything, and she had thought that it would be a problem if they were too natural, but over the months, they had naturally fallen into this routine that maybe this was what it was like to date someone and begin to give your heart?

Dia and Tanith seemed to think that more should be happening, more physical displays of affection, but Lily couldn’t think of anything else she would have wanted in a relationship. If she was honest, she wouldn’t complain either, being with Finn felt as natural as breathing. They laughed together and talked about everything without any boundaries. She felt stronger knowing he was on her side and helping her with her mission and she felt safer being herself than she had ever done around anyone but her family. Sure, with Dia and Tanith, her personality was her own, but she couldn’t be honest about her past, all her thoughts or opinions.

Finn saw and accepted all of it. But did that mean they were dating? Was that enough for them to be dating for real? And if it was enough for her, was it really enough for him?

Lily couldn’t figure out the answer, so she pushed it aside in her mind. This new piece of information, which might lead to the information they wanted, was considerably more important.

“I found something!” She exclaimed as she placed a copy of Modern Myth on top of the three books Finn had been looking through in the back corner of the library. “Look here…” She motioned to the specific paragraph she had been reading.

‘Water and mirage magic were utilised to create five regular changing pieces of art within the city walls and can be found in little nooks and crannies to give even the lesser walked streets a beauty.’

“Could it be behind one of those?” She asked once Finn had finished mouthing the words to himself as he read them.

“It’s a good start! They could have taken advantage of something that people wouldn’t think to go behind.” Finn agreed eagerly. “And it’d be easy to check if we can get some time to go to the city.”

“How far is it?”

“Not a day trip, that’s for sure. We’d have to go for the summer solstice break.” Finn mused.

“That’s two months away…”

“Yeah, but we can make a thing about it being a date and no one would question it. Means we can talk about it openly. Plus, there’s a big summer solstice festival in the city so it wouldn’t be weird that we wanted to go there and we wanted to look around the whole city.” The logic of his idea couldn’t be argued, but it was frustrating that seven months had already passed since Lily had started this journey and she was going to have to wait another two months just to chase something that could potentially just be folktale from a nutty old lady. As though sensing that frustration, Finn placed a hand on her cheek and forced her to look at him. “We have time. Even if it’s a dead end, we still have time to stop this.”

Lily leaned into the warmth of his hand with a defeated sigh. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Leaning to kill her forehead, Finn smiled and let his hand drop away. “Besides, I bet you’ll love the city when we get there, so it won’t be a wasted trip either way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s gorgeous! The stone is pristine white, and the main buildings have gemstones incorporated into them so they glitter and shine the most glorious of colours as the sun hits them at different times of the day.” Finn couldn’t keep himself from grinning as he spoke. “I’d love to learn the techniques for creating such high-level designs like that. But I imagine they glitter much like a fairy’s skin with what you’ve told me.”

Lily couldn’t imagine something looking so familiar and yet be a city completely foreign to her.

“It does sound like something I’d love to see.” She admitted.

“Thought so,” Finn chortled. “Though, I may need a few minutes to fawn over the workmanship when we get there.”

“I’m sure I can survive that,” Lily laughed brightly. Finn never failed to bring a smile to her face even when they were focused on something that filled her with trepidation.

“If you can, I’ll marry you on the spot.”

“While I’m sure my parents will delight in being able to plan a wedding for me, I’d like to live in the trees which means you wouldn’t be able to build the home.” Lily shook her head, amused.

“Ah true. Well, maybe you’ll come around if I give you a garden with some glorious trees for you to be in.”

“I can’t just make myself tiny to go up into the trees you know?”

“Wait, you can’t?” Finn cast her an incredulous look as Lily laughed again.

“No. There’s a magical barrier that’s as old as the war that shrinks everything that goes through it.”

“Oh. So, if I ever went there I’d be made tiny?”

“Yup, but everything else apart from the trees themselves are small as well so you don’t feel that out of place with it all,” Lily explained with a shrug. “I actually replace it weird now to be so tall next to trees, it still feels weird to me.”

“I bet! I’d love to see it one day.”

“If we manage to stop a war, maybe you’ll be able to.” Lily smiled.

“You can show me around! You in your charmed shoes and me on my board.” Finn encouraged the thought.

Lily hadn’t really stopped to think about what possibilities there would be if they did manage to replace the truth and get the two sides of the war to hold their fire. Would she be able to show her friends what she really was? Would she be allowed to show them her world and introduce them to her family? They could live with more freedom, only fearing the terrors of untamed beasts that lingered in the wilds of the world.

“I’d like that,” Lily replied with a wishful tone in her voice. “I really would.”

It did play on her mind as the days passed by, her heart encouraged by the hope that filled it. Dreams of having her parents and her friends in her life without having to choose a side made her extra attentive to any little details she could replace out about Mythanissiam.

She hadn’t expected it to be Wild Witch Agrios and her assistant Ferntide who gave her the extra titbits she had been looking for.

They were studying Angahaki, which were creatures about the size of a clementine with two front legs and a long extendable neck that lives its life in a long spiral shell. The shell was grown from the little creature’s backbone and was fused to the creature which lives inside. The soft tissue of the body was a slate grey, leathery and looked like it had too much skin for the surface that needed covering. They were odd looking creatures that clung to wet surfaces near water to grab insects and small amphibians as their food.

“If you are able to get close, you can see the adhesive pads on the bottom of their two feet which allow them to grip perfectly even with the water acting to make the stone or tree slippery,” Agrios explained as Ferntide carefully held the little creature still to walk around the students and show them the little pads which were surprisingly purple in colour. “They are an effective way to keep small animals from damaging your water features, so you may have seen them in your gardens or around ponds.”

Lily’s hand was in the air before she could really think about it. She didn’t like drawing attention to herself, and even if she had a question she certainly wouldn’t ask it out loud in front of everyone. The look of disbelief that both Dia and Finn cast her reiterated the rarity of her action.

“Miss Roselyn?” Agrios prompted.

Lily grimaced as she realised that the class’s attention was now on her. She could feel herself curl in on herself as she glanced at Finn who raised an eyebrow at her.

“Sorry,” she started, her voice cracking a little under her nerves. “I was just wondering if they could be found on the water features like those in Mythanissiam as well? Or would they ruin the mirage effect?”

Understanding dawned in Finn’s eyes; Lily was using it as a way to learn more about the water features they would be looking for.

“Good thinking there, Rosalyn.” Agrios smiled widely before waving a hand to the creature that Ferntide was still showing to a group near the back of the class. “As they would stick to the walls behind the water as it falls, and to the stone at the base of the feature, they wouldn’t affect the mirage at all. And they would be a handy little addition as they would keep anything else from getting too close to the six mirages.”

“Six?” Finn queried with a head tilt, glancing at Lily. “I thought there were only five?”

Lily shrugged as Agrios continued on to give them their tasks of retrieving an Angahaki from the mobile wells they had been standing around in groups of four and creating another detailed guide to the creature in question.

“Why are you so interested in mirages in Mythanissiam?” Dia butted in.

“She was reading a book on the city the other day.” Tanith noted with curiosity dawning on her face.

Lily cast a sideward glance at Finn who let his lips stretch into a grin. “That one’s on me. I said we should go on a date to the summer solstice festival there this year. Like an overnight getaway.”

There was a heartbeat of silence before the two girls let out loud squeals of excitement.

“Girls! Please!” Agrios called across the class. Dia immediately shoved her knuckle between her teeth to stem her reaction while Tanith started to snigger.

“Sorry!” Tanith chimed cheekily as she elbowed Lily’s ribs lightly before whispering to her. “How could you not have told us that yet?”

“Yeah!” Dia hissed.

“Well, it’s not set in stone…” Lily started.

“The fact you are even considering staying somewhere over night with him when you never stay in each other’s rooms means that you should be telling us that the thought has happened!” Dia looked like she wanted to shake Lily for some level of stupidity that she didn’t understand.

“Well, it’s not a trip that can be made in a day. So, we have to stay over” Finn commented from the side.

“Good cover” Tanith flashed him a knowing smirk that made his cheeks flush.

“That’s… that’s not the intention,” Finn stammered. The way he shifted awkwardly seemed out of place until Lily finally realised why the girls had squealed so hard. They really thought it was a romantic trip with all the affection that went with it. Her face flushed a deep pink hue and her brunette hair ruffled as she shook her head desperately. She hadn’t even thought about something like that!

“You know that’s not me.” She whined. “I’ve just never seen the city and it’s supposed to be beautiful.”

Tanith laughed lightly at the response and shrugged “Can’t blame us for getting excited for you, and an overnight date is usually a big deal.”

“I mean, it’s still a big deal. They’ll have a whole two days without us bugging them” Dia chortled.

“True, they might drive each other nuts.” Tanith joined.

Finn’s arm snaked around Lily’s waist and pulled him away from her teasing friends with a pout on his face. “I don’t think she could ever drive me nuts.”

“Oh, isn’t he cute?” Dia cooed as Lily leant back against Finn’s broad chest without hesitation. She knew she was safe there, safe to be herself and safe to laugh just as she did then.

“Well this cutie wants to know where the sixth mirage is so he can show them all to his adorable girlfriend” Finn glanced over to where Wild Witch Agrios was now beginning to walk around to look at their work. She wouldn’t be surprised that Finn hadn’t drawn anything yet, even when he did no one could make out what it was supposed to be, but she would notice that the others had been distracted. So, the girls quickly picked up their tools and began sketching as Finn waved to the teacher with enthusiasm on his handsome features.

“Mr Byrne, can I help?” It was Assistant Ferntide who came over in response, a shy smile on his delicate features. Over the year he had become a little more confident with dealing with the students, but there was still a hesitation in his eyes that suggested he wasn’t sure he was going to be enough. Lily recognised it from her own reflection, and such had taken a liking to the assistant as well as the Wild Witch herself.

“Oh” Finn started, looking a little sheepish, “I just wanted to ask about the six mirages that were mentioned. I only thought there were five.”

“Nothing about the Angahaki, then?” Ferntide mused with a small shy smile pulling on the edges of his lips as Finn grimaced slightly. “Well, it’s supposed to just be an urban myth, but having been so many places, Wild Witch Agrios tends to believe in those.”

“Do you?” Dia chimed, tilting her head curiously to the side allowing her red curls to fall over her shoulder.

“Me? I like to, yes” Ferntide nodded. “It adds extra wonder to the world.”

“Where does the myth say the sixth one is?” Finn pressed, his green eyes reflecting his eagerness.

“Well, rumour has it that there is one hidden somewhere in the gardens of the old palace gardens. But of course, the palace is somewhere used by those who govern us and the gardens are so overgrown that no one could go in and confirm it.”

At his words, Lily glanced at Finn to replace his eyes already looking at her. The same thought seemed to flash through their minds at the same time. If there was going to be an ancient secret, it was probably going to be behind something that everyone had written off as a myth.

“It’s got to be there!” Finn hissed to her after the lesson had finished and he had linked their hands together and pulled her closer. Lily nodded in response, frowning a little at the teasing faces her two friends shot back at her as they sped up a little in front of them.

“Yeah… but how do we get past a garden no one is able to get through?” Finn merely raised an eyebrow at her query, waiting for something to click in her mind. Of course, when it did her cheeks did light up with pink hues. “Oh, yeah.” She could manipulate the plants with ease to let them through. There were moments where she forgot the true magic she could use when she was constantly making her magic direct itself through the stick she claimed to be a wand.

“Idiot.” Finn nudged her fondly before pulling her to catch up with Dia and Tanith.

They had a location and the beginnings of a plan.