Crystallo (working title)

CHAPTER 3: CONNECTION

Zinnia's eyes widened, as she neared the Royal crystal flowers, from the strong pull she felt inside of herself. She clenched her hands and trembled from excitement. Taking a slow breath to stay calm, she kneeled beside the Carnelian Royal crystal flower.

It was a rich orange color, the kind you saw only from a peaceful, blazing sunset. Faeries that connected to this crystal were called the artists. They were musicians, painters, singers, writers, sculptors, dancers, and any type of art you can think of. The Carnelian crystal fey saw beauty in everything, and brought life to the crystal fey realm.

Zinnia lightly touched the tip of a Carnelian crystal and felt a small connection, just like she felt with all the others and was disappointed but also shocked because that meant there was only one crystal left to try. The Prism Royal crystal.

The Prism Royal crystal glittered with a million rainbows, and started to glow brightly as Zinnia neared it. She closed one hand and held it over her heart, it was beating wildly. Still kneeling, she sucked in a breath and brushed the crystal ever so slightly with her fingertip.

The connection was instant and sure. It felt as if Zinnia was getting back a piece of herself that she didn't even know was missing. She felt stronger than she ever had in all of her life. Everything around Zinnia opened up to her. She was in tune with the wind, air, water, plants, dirt, rock, and so much more.

The Prism crystal shined so bright that she had to shut her eyes, but it quickly dimmed back to a normal soft glow. From her studies, Zinnia remembered that depending on the brightness of the shine from the crystal, it determined the amount of potential that fey had in mastering her talent or in her case, talents.

A little breathless, Zinnia took hold of the crystal and pulled it gently out from the center of the flower. She held it in the palm of her hand, it was the length and width of her slim index finger. It felt cool to the touch, smooth on all sides, and ended in a delicate rounded point.

Fairies that connected to these crystals, contained all talents from all crystals.

Queen Roe is a Prism Royal, and so are most of the crystal fairy guards. They were also Caretakers, Inventors, Artists, Experimenters, and everything else because they had many possibilities. It wasn't uncommon for Prism Royals to have more than one occupation at a time.

Zinnia stared in disbelief at the Prism crystal, and now understood why she only felt a small connection to the other crystals. They were only small portions of her talent, not the whole piece. She tucked the crystal carefully inside her black jacket pocket and stood up to find a path off of the mountain.

Walking up to the edge of the mountain, Zinnia had a crazy, impulsive idea. If her abilities included air and wind, maybe she could use them to glide down the mountain.

Peeking over the edge, her short neck-length hair whipped around in the wind. Her stomach clenched as she saw the distance from here to the ground, but she was determined to use her newly discovered abilities.

Zinnia closed her eyes, and took the crystal in her hand. She squeezed it tightly, held it over her heart, and concentrated very hard on the Silk Element talent. She felt the wind blowing all around her and deeply breathed in the clear, crisp mountain air.

One of her eyes peeked open, she didn't feel any different. Perhaps Zinnia wasn't concentrating hard enough? She leaned out closer to the edge of the mountain to feel more of the wind, and imagined it carrying her all the way down. Suddenly a huge gust of wind knocked her over the edge and she was falling!

Her arms flailing out wildly, Zinnia screamed as she plummeted downward at the speed of light. For a short moment Zinnia thought that she must look ridiculous screaming and flailing around, but the moment passed and she shut her eyes holding the crystal tightly in her hand next to her heart.

Zinnia thought she must be going crazy or her speed was actually reducing. She felt like she was falling slower and slower, until she opened her eyes and felt wind all around her cushioning her landing. Soon she was cradled hovering over the ground by the wind next to two slim figures.

She looked up and saw what must be that Silk Element fairy that accompanied her Caretaker. She knew he was a Silk Element because his hair and eye color matched that of his Silk Element crystal which hung around his neck in a beautifully crafted necklace.

The Silk Element fairy's hands were held out towards Zinnia, and she now understood that it was his talents that saved her. He must have seen her falling and used the winds to safely bring her down. His clear, sort of white colored hair was wild, as if the winds never ceased going through it. He had delicate sharp features, and an amused smirk on his face.

"Y-you can put me down now..." Zinnia stuttered, clearly shaken up by the whole almost dying thing.

The Silk Element's hands withdrew and she landed on her butt with a small thump. Zinnia groaned and looked over to the other slim figure, her Caretaker Izel, and instantly regretted it.

He was furious. His arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot with impatience.

"What were you thinking Zinnia?!" his voice raising in alarm, throwing his arms up in the air.

Zinnia bit her lip to keep herself from getting up and running to hug him with tears streaming down her face like she used to do as a child whenever she got hurt or scared.

"I'm s-sorry, I though I could..." she looked up at his rose colored eyes, full of love and concern for her, and sighed, "I know it was stupid." She hung her head in apology.

Caretaker Izel kneeled down to where she was, held her shoulders and tilted her chin up to look at him, "I agree. Don't you ever do anything that reckless and impulsive like that again," he huffed.

He got up and held out a hand to her to help her up as well. Caden wobbled a little, her legs feeling like jelly. Caretaker Izel steadied her and offered to support her, but she refused, "Just give me a moment please," and she regained her footing.

"Good thing I asked Keenan Silk to come along with me. Did you thank him yet?" Caretaker Izel asked Zinnia, and she could tell that he was still furious with her.

"Thank you Silk Element Keenan, for saving my life..." Zinnia mumbled.

"Don't mention it," Keenan replied with a cough to try and hide his laughter, but Zinnia caught it and glared at him.

"Let's return to the Royal Palace to have a custom necklace made for your crystal. You did manage to find your talent, yes?" Caretaker Izel folded his hands behind his back, regaining his professional stance.

"Yes! I'm a Prism Royal, can you believe it?" Zinnia opened her hand and showed her Caretaker, who didn't seem surprised.

"Hm, I thought so, and I would say 'good work' but I think that last stunt you pulled costed you some points," He shook his head in disbelief, probably recalling Zinnia falling from the mountain. 

She sighed and nodded her head, "Do we have to walk all the way back?" it took them almost an hour to reach this place by foot.

"I've arranged for a ride, it should be here any moment-" Caretaker Izel stopped in mid-sentence as a silver-gray vehicle's wheels screeched and stopped right in front of them.