'Faye'rytale

Chapter 17

They stopped to see a willowy woman in an electric green outfit standing before a colossal mirror. Only her silhouette was visible from the distance. But Raeburn could make out that there was something outlandish about the sheath dress she was wearing. Athena walked up to the woman. Raeburn followed. Up close, Raeburn realized in awe what was unusual about her dress. It was smoke, electric green smoke which had a tint of teal. Despite smoke being a freely moving mixture, it accentuated her slender frame. What if she was taking a stroll on the street and a wind blew! Raeburn chuckled and instantly stopped himself. He wondered if Athena and the woman must have thought it rude. But neither of them seemed to mind. The woman in green, although aware of their presence, did not budge. She looked as if she was absorbed in the mirror. Raeburn, who still did not see her face had the impression that he was familiar with the scene. Yet he failed to dredge up. He was a tad too annoyed. He shifted weight on his feet. Athena remained patient.

"The woman's a narcissist." Raeburn thought, almost saying it out loud.

He walked closer to the woman and as he was about to speak to her, he noticed something that made him stop. The woman was constantly tapping on her right cheek with her little finger and each time she did so, hard to believe, but true, her lip color changed – from champagne pink to royal purple to tangerine orange. Finally, she decided in favor of a fiery red. Raeburn looked at her intently, her platinum blonde top knot bun, her gray eyes, and the way she carried herself that exuded confidence. She took one last glance at the mirror, snapped her fingers, and made the mirror vanish into thin air. Then, she turned to face the intruders with a smug smile. The first thing Raeburn detected was the tiny, almost insignificant birthmark on her right cheek. So, he was the culprit – that little rascal who let her change lip color every second.

"Nyx Remus Fay. Nice to meet you."

"Raeburn Ry Ryder. Nice to meet you too."

"Okay... So, our boy has got a stutter? Can't even tell his name? Muahaaahaaa..."

"For your information, obnoxious Nyx, I don't stammer. Ry is my middle name."

"Muahaaahaaa..."

This time the evil laugh was toned down. Nyx wasn't used to people talking back to her. She always had her way. Obnoxious Nyx? Hmm...Sounded evil. She liked the sound of it. She even considered making it official.

"So umm... You are the guy. Why work for Fayedom? Quit Team Athena and join Team Nyx. Nope. Team Obnoxious Nyx. That is how you like it. Right? Muahaaahaaa..."

Perplexed, Raeburn looked at Athena. He was struggling to figure out what was going on. Whose side was he on? Athena decided to take full control of the situation.

"Nyx, you know you can't coerce him into being your ally. He belongs to Fayedom. Now, if you could quickly tell us the purpose of this meeting, we would like to leave.", said Athena looking right into Nyx' eyes, without fluttering an eyelash. It was not as challenging for Athena as it was for the rest of the humans and she knew it creeped out Nyx.

"Oh c'mon, chill Fayebot!"

"Don't you dare call me that. I have got a name. Mind you." Athena's eyes glowed with anger.

Nyx lowered her gaze. She was not as confident as she looked and talked. Fayebot. Now, what was that? A slang maybe. It has been a thousand years. Languages evolve. Raeburn made a mental note to never, ever, call Athena a Fayebot. Not that he was really going to. What if he picked up words and phrases naively and started using them? Young children learn to speak like that. And people who migrate pick up accent like that. Unknowingly.

"It's about Inferno, our common enemy. Fayedom and Nyxendelle has been foes since forever. They say the enemy of an enemy is a friend. So, I guess, you know what I am talking about.", said Nyx.

"No.", said Athena coldly.

"No what?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"What I'm saying is, to put in a nutshell, we collaborate."

"You're kidding me. Ha! You really think that's gonna happen? You're wasting our time."

"Yes. Why do you think I would propose something as insane as that? I know Fayedom is going through a difficult phase. Everybody knows. I would not dare to face Inferno all by myself right now. Fayedom doesn't have the resources to face him either. But Nyxendelle does. Together, we can stop him."

"I'll think about it. And by the way, it could be a 'her'. You can't be so sure Inferno is a man.", said Athena.

Raeburn, clueless about what was going on, started scratching his head in exasperation. As soon as they left the woman, he realized what was so familiar about Nyx and the mirror. That scene..."Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" The scene from a play at his school. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Apparently, nobody here would have heard of the fairytale. He was a thousand years ahead of his time. As soon as Raeburn and Athena left, Nyx snapped her fingers to turn her smoke dress and platinum blonde tresses into a burning red flame. She laughed a wicked laugh and remembered her mother's final words – "Dear, if you want to make waves, then be the ocean." Perhaps, she cannot be the ocean. But she certainly can get the ocean to abet her evil plans. That dormant green-eyed monster in her was more dangerous than any snake.

Do vote if you like this chapter.