He strode to Ana's room, letter in hand, knowing she'd be happy to see the Briinstores’ daughter again; the two were very close. They always seemed to understand each other, and had similar interests. Sometimes he wondered if Kateri and Ana were soul-twins; they were often in sync, and there was an aura of resonance when they were together.
On reaching Ana's door, he could hear Ana talking to someone, although he couldn't hear another voice in response. He lightly knocked on the wooden door, "Ana? You okay?"
Some shuffling of what sounded like paper, before a slightly startled response came back, "I'm fine! Just dealing with a little visitor, is all."
Zachariah frowned, "Visitor?" His hand tightened on the door handle, ready to handle whatever was going on.
"Come see!" Was all Ana said, before Zachariah opened the door. Hopefully her room's tidy this time...
Ana was at her desk, wearing a simple dress, with her hair down. On the desk was a pale, curled-up figure, who looked as if they could fit quite comfortably into her palm.
"She's so weak and injured..." Ana glanced back and forward between an old-looking book she had open--he recognised it from the small library upstairs--and the little figure, "I found her on my windowsill; I don't know how a faerie like her even made it this far."
Zachariah came to the desk, glad Ana had actually kept her small room tidy, bending down to get a closer look at the faerie. "What type is she? That'll help you work out how to help her heal."
Ana didn't look up at him once, her voice gaining a frustrated tone, "That's what I'm trying to work out--if I get this wrong, I could hurt her worse, or potentially kill her. She doesn't match any of the types in here--hair suggests flame, skin tone suggests water or earth, clothes suggest water--and this is one of the best books on faeries and other nature spirits out there." She shook her head, "Maybe Kateri would know..."
A slight cough from the faerie drew Ana's attention away from the book, and she gently stroked the small spirit's short messy hair with one finger, noting the somewhat ragged clothes--a simple sleeveless plain blue dress and a pair of slip-ons--and dirty, blood-streaked skin.
Zachariah smiled, "Well, we are going to see her in a few days, since this--" he handed the letter to her--"came through. If this little thing hasn't been identified, you can ask her about it."
Ana read the letter, a smile slowly appearing on her face, "It's been a while since I saw the others, so this'll be nice... Shame it had to be because someone else joined..."
Zachariah sighed, putting his hand on Ana's shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "I know, darling. I know..."
----
A few days later, the day of the gathering came, with a slightly overcast sky, the grey clouds making Zachariah extra jittery. If it rained, he wasn't sure how Fae (as they'd taken to calling her) would cope.
The route to their destination took them through the middle parts of town, through narrow streets with old, dark buildings squeezed together on either side. It was a little intimidating at first, especially on overcast days, but it was the quickest way to get across town from their residence. Strong scents of herbal teas wafted in the air from businesses, making both Ana and Zachariah cough--Pleasance Way was part of the "merchant's quarter", and strong smells were common in this area. It would get clearer once they headed towards the outskirts of the city, he knew.
"Well, here we are." Zachariah stopped in front of the Briinstore residence, glancing down at Ana, "Is Fae okay?" Since finding the little faerie, there hadn't been much change--she didn't seem to know anything when she was awake, appearing disorientated, green eyes dull; and she spent most of her days sleeping. Ana had been no closer to figuring out what to do with her, either. At least she wasn't having adverse reactions to the food she was eating...
Ana glanced down at the small, slightly-worn off-white blanket she carried the spirit in, "She's still sleeping. She hasn't stirred once during the trip, even during that nasty cobbled section. At least she isn't getting worse."
Even Zachariah could pick up the hidden message in his daughter's tone-- But she isn't getting better, either. He sighed, hoping they'd be able to help Fae soon. It was rare a faerie came into the city; most researchers had to go into the countryside to get to know them. So how did she end up here?
Approaching the three-stories-high cream-coloured house, a wave of familiarity washed over him. He had been to this residence many times over the past few years, and it almost was a second home to Ana.
Eli wasn't one for decoration; never had been. Hence, on the outside, the property looked plain and somewhat imposing, and the garden was small, with only basic plants to provide greenery. Though, coming from a place where aesthetics really didn't matter in favour of survival--as it was in the small and hot western country of Aciella, since space was limited--it made reasonable sense. So while some members of society weren't impressed, it didn't really matter to him.
After being welcomed in and being brought to the Gathering Room--glancing round at Dalia's decor, which had a little more flair than her husband's preferences--Zachariah strode over to greet the unfortunate newbies, noting the young child--a boy. He's what, 3? What could they have done?
The group that had started out with about three families now had about 20 families, all of whom knew the pain their children went through--a sad reflection of the Council's ways. The other fun part was that those who had a cursed child, couldn't bring more bundles of joy into the world--as a young mother had learned the hard way when she wanted to give her young daughter, a sibling.
"Long time no see, Alu." He smiled slightly, stretching a hand out for a handshake. Alu had the dark skin associated with the country just to the south of Ikna, Aamirin; and was a little over 6 foot tall. He wore a simple black suit with a cream shirt, which slightly hung on him. His wife was much paler than him, and barely reached his shoulder. Her long-sleeved dress was a tasteful pale yellow, and she wore a simple silver ring on a necklace.
Alu spun round, deep red eyes widening at the somehow familiar voice. "Zach?! This is the valu place I would have expected you!" He firmly shook his old friend's hand, his grip tightening slightly.
Zachariah raised an eyebrow, aware of Alu's habit to lapse into his native language and its grammar forms. "Likewise. What on earth did you do?"
At this, Alu turned to Shayla, his facial expression dropping, as though a darkness had overcome him, and he took a few moments before turning back to Zachariah to speak. "...They say we put out "extremely offending materials", although that is somewhat subjective. How else are we supposed to make progress if we don't open ourselves up a bit?"
Zachariah ran a hand through slightly messy hair, "The Council are a little on the reactionary side sometimes. I should know..." Understatement, Zach. He glanced over at Ana somewhat mournfully, "I mean, I understand that necromancy is forbidden, and I know of that infamous mage who decided to resurrect his son 100 years ago--but they didn't seem to get I was just curious about how other places view death."
Alu whistled lowly, "Wow. And so your daughter can't walk?"
Zachariah nodded dully, trying not to glance at Ana again, "Yes. What happened to your son?"
"Better to show rather than tell, in this case." Alu glanced down at the child, "Abdul, fale."
Zachariah gasped on seeing wide, unnatural silver eyes stare up at him--a sharp contrast to Abdul's dark skin. A look at his parents indicated he couldn't have inherited those eyes from them, as Shayla had dark brown eyes to match her hair. "Blinded?"
"Yes. You can't see it now, but he often can't sleep due to the pain he's in--Shayla has to stay with him, so she can give him pain-ending medicine." Alu clenched a fist, looking out the window at the garden. "He's not even 5..."
A pang of familiarity struck Zachariah; Ana was cursed young. How would Abdul manage as he grew up? Would he never manage to live away from his parents?
"Father, look at this!" Ana's excited tone made him say a hasty goodbye to Alu and Shayla, before joining his daughter and Kateri, who were happily signing to each other, that same aura of resonance--what could only be described as a light, peaceful feeling--shining through once more. Had they figured out Fae's type?
On the end of the long dark wooden table, away from the food and drink, next to a sleeping Fae--now on her blanket rather than wrapped up, maybe so they could get a better look--lay a thick book, fairly new-looking. It was open to a page covering "Newly discovered faeries". Looks like the Evansons have done some more work with the small folk since their last publication.
"Does she match any of these newer types?" He enquired, glancing up at Eli--an imposing figure from a distance, usually for his penchant to wear dark clothing to match his dark skin and hair--coming in, followed by Dalia. There wasn't as much contrast between Eli and his wife; they had come from the same area and so both had the dark tan skin and deep-set gold eyes that indicated someone came from the East. Dalia wasn't as small compared to her husband, though she was taller than average for women from her country, and Eli had a slim build. Eli chose to wear a plain brown suit with a white shirt, while Dalia chose a popular light green dress that suited her dark blonde hair (currently in a bun) and added a jewelled necklace.
At this, Ana's expression dropped. "No. She's still just as much of a mystery as before. Doesn't help she didn't stir at all..." She picked Fae up, keeping her close. "Kateri suggested talking to one of the experts, likely Lila Evanson, about her, just to see if they might be able to shed some light on her. She says they're currently back in the city for a while, after a year exploring other areas of Ikna, to see other faeries and other nature spirits."
The conversation was cut short by Dalia's welcome greeting; Ana placed Fae back on the table before Dalia started, interpreted what Dalia was saying and signed it to Kateri, waiting for Dalia to stop talking to the assembled group and let them get on with their investigation.
Once that was complete, the older members went to greet the newest members, the kids started playing with each other, with the younger ones leaving the room for locations unknown; leaving Ana and Kateri in reasonable peace to catch up with one another.
That was until one of the younger children--a little 7-year-old named Ophelia--spotted Fae on the table.
Zachariah--who had gone over to talk to Ophelia's father about the recent developments towards the outskirts of the city among the foreigners (the Council didn't let foreigners live in the centre of the cities; they were assigned to a certain quarter), and how that was affecting daily business, especially among the merchants who specialised in more exotic items--found himself chuckling at her interest in a now awake Fae, glad to see she was doing alright. After the initial few weeks, Ophelia was still often lethargic, though she was staying awake most of the day.
After some stumbling on the blanket, Fae finally unfurled her barely-there white wings, determined to get away from the small red-haired child who had been trying to grab at her. She flew up and perched herself on the top of the bookcase in the corner of the room, completely unaware of the commotion caused by her sudden flight.
Eyes of the other children and adults flicked between a surprised-looking Ophelia, a startled Ana, and a not-concerned Fae, who had flicked her hair back and turned away from the onlookers.
Ana chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head, "Ehe... Yeah..."
Zachariah simply laughed, glad to see Fae was finally on her feet and in the air. Sure, Ana did get asked quite a few questions by the children, but that was to be expected...
