Discoveries

11

At first I hadn't wanted to tell my friends about my little adventure, but things got tricky when I woke up and found lots of worried faces staring at me.

"Uhm, hello," I said. "Whoa."

Their eyes held shapes; flowers. Instead of a pupil the iris had a flower. Some were still buds, others flowering. I jumped out of bed and ran to my mirror. Sure enough, my eyes held a cornflower bud. Around it my eyes had gotten greener; where there first had been brown specks, they were no more.

My shoulder looked a bit bruised and was sore to the touch, but it seemed to have mostly healed overnight. More like morning, actually.

"You slept all morning. And where were you yesterday? We are not letting you go until you tell us," Nick said. He was of a middle-sized length, with broad shoulders and strong arms. His hair was a dirty blonde, above grey eyes and full lips. For once he wasn't arrogant.

"Long story."

"Tell us," Laura demanded.

There was no way out, so I told them the whole story. Well, almost. I left the part in the library out. Somehow it didn't feel right to tell them.

My friends were all outraged. "If she thinks that she can get away with this unpunished, she's horribly wrong. How dare she touch you? I mean seriously, how does she think you're supposed to treat Silera? By throwing them off bridges?" Laura bristled. "Let's give her and the ducklings a taste of their own medicine, what d'ya say?"

"Yeah!" they called in unison.

"Wait, wait guys. Now she'll be expecting us, alert the whole time. But, if we wait, she'll be off guard. And isn't revenge a dish best served cold? Let her think I'm too scared to touch her, and then jump out," I suggested.

"Well, actually that ain't no bad idea," Romeo said. He looked at the others.

"Yeah, a bit of training might come in handy," Tiana agreed.

No point in asking "what training", as their answer would undoubtedly be "you'll find out".

"Uhm, guys, it's really nice you're here, but I'd really like some time alone?"

One by one they leapt off my balcony, laughing at my astonishment. My, I was hungry. Searching for food I found a large basket full of pastries and fruit, accompanied by a flagon of orange juice. Where would I be without Laura? The scent of lavender drew me to the bathroom. Seriously, my friends were too sweet. A bath had been filled, with plenty of foam. I placed my basket next to it, and stepped into the smooth water. Of course it was the perfect temperature, what else was to be expected.

As I sat there, gobbling up pastries and sipping juice, all felt well. It felt as if I'd sucked up all the knowledge in that library, and had no more questions to ask. That wasn't true, of course. Only more questions had arisen. Some had been answered. Like why my book held an opal heart instead of a cornflower. Opals hold all colours, as did I. And I might be the last, or the first of a new age of Silera. Already it felt as my duty to not let these people extinct.

My people.

The only place I could think of going to was the pool. So, after dressing in a comfortable crimson gown, I slowly padded over.

The pool was still as ever, with moss banks and tall pines all around. I kneeled to splash water into my face, but a voice said, "Don't do that dear, the water is poisonous."

"Which one are you?"

"Air, dear. Moria." It was the one with high cheekbones and a cold look, but her voice held a strange warmth, like a summer breeze. "Of course it won't kill you, at the worst a bellyache. Still, bellyaches aren't the nicest of things."

I started to worry. I'd lain in that pool almost a whole day.

Oops.

"Do you know what this pool holds? You still get an answer from me, will this be it?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

"This pool holds past, present and future, if you know how to look. Then the challenge is to separate the three. Many never achieve that in their lives."

The wings.

Gods.

The wings.

I didn't recall having wings anywhere in the past, or right now for that matter, so...

"Do Silera tend to have wings?" The Rose didn't seem to have any, but it was worth the try.

"You've had your question." She paused, then looked me in the eye. "You saw that, didn't you? Yourself with wings?"

I nodded.

She just smiled.