Finding Alex | TLOS

Ch.36

Alex frowned, and shifted onto her bum instead of her knees. "What do you mean by that?" She asked Claire.

The bird cage began to swing, and Alex shook the bars to make it swing faster. Even if she hated to admit it, she loved the feeling of being stuck in that cage. It reminded her of being a kid and playing with Conner. She would always be the princess stuck in the tower, and Conner would be the knight and shining armor that saved the princess from distraught!

Claire shuddered. "Yukon and Diamond...their eyes were pure red. They told me their plans to help The Lady of the Lake...they told me their plans to kill me," tears brimmed in the corner of her eyes.

Alex gasped. "But they're your friends!" she protested. Why would they want to hurt poor, innocent Claire? She had done nothing to them! Alex shook herself out of her daze. Yukon and Diamond were under a spell, they didn't actually mean it!

"I know," Claire murmured. "But something happened! I think...I think that man poisoned them when he gave us our food yesterday. But I don't understand, why didn't he poison me too? It's stupid!"

"That's strange," Alex agreed. "Maybe he wanted to trick you, so you'd be too hurt. If you know what I mean."

"I know," Claire replied. "I thought it was something like that, but I wasn't sure."

Alex shrugged. "If you let me out of this cage, I might be able to reduce the spell cast upon them."

"You would be able to?" Claire frowned. "But you're just a girl, not much older than me."

"I'm 18, thank you very much," Alex snapped, not thinking very clearly, and a little annoyed at Claire for thinking she was 13. "I'm also known as The Fairy Godmother, or The Greatest Fairy Alive."

Claire licked her lips. "Oh sorry," she said. "I...I've been gone for a long time. I don't know the way of the world anymore, it's all so strange to me. It's as if the world continued on without me."

Alex smiled softly. She knew what Claire meant. She had been so enclosed in Camelot's world that she had forgotten about her own, and the wonderful people she had left behind.

"It's alright," Alex said, which was the truth. "Now if you would, get me that key and help me out."

"Can't you just use your magic?" Claire pointed out.

Alex frowned slightly. "I'll try..." she said. She still felt drained from the water, but if she could just do a quick spell she'd be out of her cage.

She grabbed her wand from her pocket and twirled it at the lock of the cage. Nothing happened. Alex's eyes began to tear up. How could this have happened?

"Sorry, Claire," she muttered, her heart pounding inside her chest. "It's as if the water drained my energy and my magic."

Claire gasped. "You were put into the lake water?" she asked, fear in her wide blue eyes.

Alex nodded. "I swam in through the cave, and then they forced me in...I thought I was about to die," Alex said softly, remembering the earlier moments.

Claire shook her head. She was in denial. "No, this can't be happening! You're the Fairy Godmother! You're powerful...the world depends on you! No, no!"

Alex stared at the girl, her eyes wide with shock. "What's wrong? What does the lake water to do me?"

Claire bit her lip. "It drains your magic! You'll never get it back, not unless you're powerful enough to reduce it!"

****

Alex gaped at Claire. "What?!"

Claire nodded. "They put Yukon and Diamond through it when we first came. I remember it clearly!" she had a look of fright on her face.

"No," Alex screamed. "No, that's not possible! I'm a fairy, I'm the most powerful fairy alive! How could this have happened, again?"

"This happened to you before?" Claire asked. "Do you know how to reverse it?"

"No, it hasn't happened to me before," Alex said. "I was cursed by a witch named Morina when I was 16 years old. I almost destroyed my home and myself. I was about to be lost in the moment, and I almost died."

Claire gaped at Alex. "Oh my god," she mumbled, and then looked back up at her newfound friend. "Be calm, Alex," she soothed.

Alex sobbed. "This can't be happening," she denied. "I worked so hard to be where I am today. All of this for a little love..."

Claire put a finger to her mouth. "Please, Alex," she had tears in her own eyes. "Be quiet! I know this is hard for you, it is hard for me to watch...but everything will get better. Right now we're just in an ugly chapter of our lives, but don't worry, books always get better!" she tried to reassure Alex.

Alex stopped crying for a moment to take a look at Claire, who was blushing from worry. "How do you know that?" she asked. "My dad made that up, or he heard it from someone from The Otherworld."

"Know what?" Claire peeped, her eyebrow raised.

Alex stared at Claire, still in shock. She shook her head. "Never mind," she frowned, and shrugged. It was just a coincidence.

Claire smiled. "Just wait a moment, Alex," she said, twisting her hands (which were behind her back).

She made a grunting sound until she broke off the rope twisting her hands together. "Great!" she walked towards the wall, but her steps were wobbly.

Alex frowned, trying to see what Claire was doing. "What are you doing?" she asked Claire.

Claire didn't respond, until she turned around and showed the key in her hands. "Here!" she threw it across the room and it landed in Alex's cage.

Alex grinned. "Oh my god, thank you!" she cried, and twisted her hand around the outside of the cage to insert the key inside the slot.

Alex beamed. The door to the cage opened and she tumbled out, into the arms of Claire. She laughed, feeling happy for just a speck of a moment, until she remembered her magic.

It was gone. Drained from her body. Her soul was dead without magic. What was she going to do?