“I know the reason the world is still chaotic is that Minerva knocked it out of balance. I need to try to fix it. I’m hoping you can help me locate any Seelie magic that may linger here.”
“You think I work as some kind of compass for fae magic?” The tan-skinned blonde raised an eyebrow at me.
I cocked a brow back. “I think I’m unfamiliar with fae magic and need any upper hand I can get. If you can’t help me, let me know.”
Ever since moving into the Moonstone Castle, Kalian’s demeanor hadn’t shifted. When we interacted, there would be an occasional air of friendliness, but usually, it was still cold and bordered on disrespectful. I would wonder what I had done wrong, but I had other things to worry about right now.
“Very well,” he nodded. “Fae magic is distinct. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s quite cold. It leaves discomfort in the air.”
“I’ve got a list of places that still seem to be chaotic in nature. I figured we could start there.”
He shrugged. “Sounds as good a place as any.” As he spoke, he seemed to look down on me more than was necessary. I mean, I knew he was taller than me, but come on.
I simply rolled my eyes and pulled out the list on my phone. The first place was the grocery store, the one I’d been to so often, the one that had been destroyed in the image of the future.
“This is close, so we can walk.” I began heading in that direction. I expected him to walk in line with me, but instead, he followed me like a puppy, or, I guess, like a soldier.
“How familiar are you with Earth?” I asked after a few moments of silence. I needed a distraction from the memory of that vision, walking this exact same route to the same location.
“Barely. I’ve only been a handful of times, never for very long. I was only sent here on rescue missions, like the one for the councilman. Perhaps due to the nature of those experiences, my impression of the world is rather… poor.”
“Well,” I sighed. “You’re not wrong. That’s what I want to fix.”
“Fix the world? How do you plan to do that?”
“Like this, I guess.”
“Fae magic isn’t responsible for all the world’s problems,” he scoffed.
“I know that! But this is a start. Maybe if I can figure out how to resolve things like this, it’ll help me figure out how to help in other places.”
“You don’t feel that’s too optimistic?”
I gritted my teeth. “No, as a matter of fact. I think it’s imperative.”
“What, saving this place? It’ll probably be fine on its own. What’s the worst that could ha-”
“Don’t say that!” I shouted, stopping in my tracks and turning to face him. He looked shocked to hear me so angry. “You have no idea what this world means. We could just as easily have let the fae realm burn itself to the ground, but we’re trying to save it just as I’m trying to save Earth. You have no idea what’s at stake.”
My breath felt heavy from the short speech, and I tried to calm myself down. Kalian looked confused, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he even looked a little guilty.
“I apologize,” he bowed. “This is your home. I should not be so callous. You’re right.”
I nodded and continued walking in silence. After a moment, I heard him behind me. “There’s no realm as large as Earth, you know.”
I glanced around. “Really?”
“Well, except for the realm of giants, but that’s just relative.” If I didn’t know better, I’d say it sounded like he was smiling.
“How big are giants?” I’d always considered Daath and Syrion to be giants in a way. They were taller than anyone I’d ever met. I hadn’t exactly thought about the existence of giants as I hadn’t seen any walking around yet.
“They average twenty feet, I think?”
“Holy shit!” I turned around to stare at him with wide eyes. “You’re serious? Like, actual twenty-foot giants that exist, and walk around?”
Kalian blinked at my confusion and nodded. “Yes.”
Wow. No wonder they didn’t wander around Earth. It would be like walking around a child’s Lego city. I began walking, but this time I intentionally hesitated a few steps so that I could fall in line with him. I didn’t enjoy leading someone so literally. “So why does every other realm know about magic? Why was Earth left out of the loop?”
He seemed to think for a minute. “A few reasons, I think. I’m not entirely sure, but I always assumed it was to avoid jealousy. While there are lots of creatures that can’t do magic the way a witch could, every other creature besides humans can do something that bends time, space, reality, or something like that, even if it’s only small. Coupled with the fact that Earth is so large, it makes sense that they thought it would be too difficult to keep humans from spreading lies or falsehoods. Since most realms are the size of a kingdom, maybe two, it’s easier to keep each other accountable.”
“Hm…” I wanted to ask Daath and Syrion if they knew more about that since they were older than Kalian. I paused and turned to the building next to us. “We’re here.”
It was such a relief to see it standing tall with people inside, safe and sound. I looked over at the Seelie, and he looked like an alarm bell was sounding in his head.
“There is fae magic here and quite a bit of it.”
“What is it? What is it doing?”
“It’s hard to pinpoint the original purpose as it’s been here so long… but I believe it focused on people, the people in the building. People who are here often…”
My mouth felt dry all of a sudden. “The family that owns the store.”
“That’s likely,” he nodded. “The magic was designed to target individuals and seep from them, so it’s very heavily concentrated on this building now.”
“What does the magic
