The Girl with an Owl

Chapter 42

Remembering the incident in the class that happened because of Bluebells' cute but dangerous clumsiness, Ajana decided to make sure that he could in no way interfere with the process. She didn't want any of them to get hurt or get stuck in another form or even worse, between two different forms.

"Bluebells, I have a very important task for you, that would help us immensely." She said.

"Sure. What do I need to do?" Bluebells asked.

"We need you to sit down on the bed and pay close attention to everything we do and note it down," Ajana said.

"How is he supposed to write with his hoofs?" Kieran asked surprised.

"Magic, of course. Haven't you seen him taking notes in class?" Ajana asked.

"No, I was trying not to look anywhere in particular, to avoid being noticed for who I am," Kieran said.

Ajana could feel the bitterness that permeated his voice and although she couldn't blame him for it, she also couldn't help him with it, not yet. Instead of doing either, she decided to distract him by being her regular self and explaining the wonder that was Bluebells.

"Anyways, he is often taking notes during classes. Otherwise, he wouldn't remember anything. His attention span isn't so great if you haven't noticed." She said.

As she said that, she pointed to Bluebells who was jumping up and down on her bed, already bored. Ajana was hoping that the excitement of watching the transformations would keep him sufficiently occupied, and prevent him from messing anything up, but it was still a risk. A risk she was willing to take seeing how he was going back to his energetic self which only moments before seemed to have gone for a long vacation.

"I am not sure how he does it. He won't tell me. Basically somehow he uses magic to take notes and let me tell you those are some awesome notes. I wish I could take notes so well." Ajana said.

As she said that Bluebells beamed with prided showing all of his teeth which having in mind his equine nature were huge. As they were all perfectly white and extremely strong, it made Ajana feel slightly uneasy. Although she was used to him most of the time, he sometimes did something so equine that Ajana was suddenly reminded that one of her best friends was a horse with wings. It made her feel awe and fear at the same time.

It wasn't fear of Bluebells himself, who was always an awesome friend but of the unfamiliarity of it all. One moment she was one with Mag, accepting everything at face value, the next she was shocked and scared by the fact that everything was so different from her own world. It was an unpredictable roller coaster of emotions.

"Okay then, Bluebells will take notes, and we will try to do the transformation," Kieran said.

It was obvious that he was humoring Ajana because they both knew that taking notes wasn't such a crucial task since both of them needed to remember everything they had done by themselves. He understood what Ajana was doing and he approved since no matter how much the little guy reminded him of his sibling it was better to keep him away from what they were about to attempt.

"Wait a minute. I thought we would practice. That you would explain everything in detail?" Ajana asked.

"Change of plans. The sooner we can do the transformations, the sooner I will be able to prove to everyone that an elf can work together with another being and do something astonishing." Kieran.

"Wouldn't it be better for us to change the animals we chose, then? Wouldn't the wolf scare them?" Ajana asked.

"I refuse to change who I am for anyone. You should understand that better than anyone. Besides, I want to show them that an elf and a human can work together and create something both powerful and beautiful that would not harm them in any way." Kieran said.

She did understand, but she also worried about him. Being aware of what humans did to anyone different from them made her more aware of all the possibilities, of all the possible things that could be done to poor Kieran out of fear.

Another thing that bothered her was the fact that she had no idea what kind of terrible role humans played in what had happened when the elves tried to invade Mag. It annoyed her to no end that she was treated differently, that there were all those hints at what the humans did but no one had told her what was it that they had done that was so bad. She could understand why they feared and hated the elves, but she couldn't comprehend what the humans could have done to be on the same level with death and destruction.

"Why is it so important to prove that humans and elves can do something good? What happened? What is the history between the humans and the elves?" Ajana asked.

"Didn't they tell you?" Kieran asked.

"No, they refuse to tell me any details about the part the humans played in the whole story, and I am not sure why. I guess, they think I am too young to understand or something like that." Ajana said.

"But Bluebells, you must know some of the stories. Why haven't you told her?" Kieran asked.

Bluebells lowered his head, his long mane covering his face. He was unusually quiet for him and Ajana didn't like it. It was so much against his personality, and it had already happened two times in one day.

"Well... I've heard many stories... about elves and humans... but they are not nice stories. I didn't want to make Ajana sad. She is so nice and I didn't want her to be unhappy. Besides, I am not sure which stories are true, and I don't want to spread lies." Bluebells said.

Hearing that Ajana couldn't help but feel bad for the little guy. He was put on the spot, but all he wanted to do was protect her feelings. It made her like him, even more, the fact that he would stay her friend even after hearing all the bad stories.

"Maybe we should just get on with our homework. We'll have plenty of time to discuss this some other time." Kieran said.

"No, Kieran, please tell me. I am tired of people trying to protect my feelings when all I need is to know the truth. If I am to fully understand why you need this to go so well, why many people in Mag don't like me, I need to know the truth. Maybe that way, I can do something more to reassure them that I am not the same as those humans, that all humans are not the same. Maybe they would be able to see that humans and elves could be good as well." Ajana said.

Although Kieran wanted to finish the homework as soon as possible and prove that he could follow the rules, that he could be a good student, he could see that Ajana needed answers. For some reason, he felt the need to help her out, to reveal the truth to her.

He was pretty sure that it had something to do with the fact that she was the first person in Mag who showed him nothing but kindness. The fact that she even tried to protect him from Orla made it clear that Ajana was a nice person. He wanted to do something to return the favor so he was ready to tell her the truth.

His family never hid the elves' dark past from him because it was a reminder for the ones fighting against the system, never to become part of the system. It was a kind of warning about what elves could turn into if they lost their way, thus it reminded the young ones never to lose their way to goodness.

"Very well. I will tell you the whole truth that the adults would never tell you, but I think you deserve to know all you can about the world you found yourself in. After I tell you everything, I really need us to do our best and perfect the transformation. Do we have a deal?" Kieran asked.

"Yes," Ajana answered.

Then she settled down on the bed, next to Bluebells, ready to listen to another story that she needed to know while Kieran paced nervously still unsure whether he was doing the right thing or not.