The Council

by Phoenix Willow

  Jewel felt a little better. At least Skye wasn’t angry with her, but when Jewel looked back at Galadriel, her heart sank. He still hadn’t acknowledged that she was there. She knew she had a lot of apologizing to do, but he was one of her best friends, more like family even, and she couldn’t bear the thought of him being upset with her.

  Jewel walked over to the cot that Galadriel was sitting on and sat down on the opposite side. His body was turned forwards and his gaze was directed at the floor. His face was taut with an unreadable emotion, and the only indication that he knew Jewel was there at all was the slight twitch she saw in his jawline.

  Jewel took a deep breath. “Look, Trickster, I know you don’t want to talk to me right now and I get it. Truly. But, well, I really just want to come and say that I’m sorry.”

  Galadriel head snapped up and he looked at Jewel with an incredulous expression, his aura was a bright canary yellow, and his chocolate brown eyes narrowing as though he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

  Jewel wasn’t quite sure what to make of Galadriel’s gaze or his silence for that matter, so Jewel began doing what she did best in awkward situation- she ranted. “Well, I mean, I get that you’re mad and I understand why you would be, but I do hope you’ll accept my apology at some point. I have so much to tell you, but first and foremost just know that I didn’t use my pain power on you. It was my Empath power apparently. Or at least that’s what my Dad told me, but that’s a whole different story. One that includes me careening down a hill and using my astral projection. I did actually learn some really cool family history while my mind was away, and I got some good advice about a few things. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty good trip. Ha, ha. Pun fully intended by the way. But I am really sorry about what I did to you, because it still looked like you were in a lot of pain. You look good right now though. Oh, well not good like appearance good, but good like okay. Not that I’m saying you aren’t handsome because you know you are, but-”

  Galadriel moved closer to Jewel and took her hand in his, effectively shutting Jewel up. He used his free hand to gently run his fingers through Jewel’s hair for a few moments before allowing his hand to drop. “I guess my nickname for you has finally stuck, huh?” He said teasingly.

  “Apparently.” Jewel chuckled.

  “Listen, Green. I only caught some of your rant, since you were sort of jumping around a lot, but from what I gathered, you feel like I have a right to be upset with you.” Galadriel started. “And that, I don’t agree with. I was stupid, Green. Not my normal, ‘this is a bad idea’ stupid, either. But, ‘highest level imaginable’ stupid. I should have left things alone when you were able to freeze time. You accomplished what we were trying to do, and you did it with such precision in only freezing me which was amazing. I should have called it the win that it was and stopped there.”

  “Yeah, but you were only trying to help, Trickster.” Jewel said, gently nudging Galadriel with her shoulder. “Your heart was in the right place.”

  “Stop making excuses for me, Green.” Galadriel said in frustration as he stood up off the cot abruptly and began to pace. “Yes. My heart was in the right place, but what good is that when I effectively broke yours in the process.” He said with a tormented look in his molten brown eyes. “Don’t you understand how I feel about you, Green? How do you not see it? You’re smart and you have these Empathic abilities, so how is it that you seem blind to what’s right in front of you? Or is it simply that you don’t want to understand?” He said, mentally pleading with Jewel to understand his unsaid emotion.

  Jewel’s eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn’t understand where Galadriel’s questions were coming from. All she could surmise was that maybe she had underestimated how deeply she had hurt him earlier with her Empath powers, and that perhaps the whole experience had somehow confused him. “I know you care about me, Trickster. I know you would never hurt me on purpose. We’ve been through so much together, you and I. We are bonded in a way that very few ever get to be. I’m not upset with you. Now, don’t get me wrong, because I definitely was, but it was just because of what I experienced with your glamour. We’re still family. Nothing can ever change that.”

  “Family.” Galadriel snorted. “Yeah…..brother and sister.” He muttered cheerlessly, a frown marring his features. He shook his head as though in dismay, but Jewel couldn’t understand what she had said to warrant such a response. Questions were about to fly off the tip of her tongue, when Galadriel waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. A different topic for a different day.” He said aloud, but Jewel felt like it was more directed at himself. “Let’s get back to your rant. The only other thing I caught from that, was that you said you didn’t use your pain power on me? How is that possible?”

  “Oh, um, well, it was my Empath power. Or at least that’s what my Dad said.” Jewel started.

  “Wait. Your Dad?” Galadriel said with a dubious expression.

  Jewel nodded. “Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but when I fell down the hill like a spaz, I astrally projected my mind and somehow connected it to my Dad’s consciousness. Make a long story shorter, because everyone’s meeting down by the river so I can explain what I learned from my Dad, he and I were able to talk about a few things. He helped me gain some much-needed clarity, peace, and understanding.”

  “That’s amazing, Green. I know how much you miss him.” Galadriel said, sitting back down on the cot.

  “I do. Which is weird, because I never really knew him to begin with, and then it was Hammond I had grown attached to. So, to find out it was my Dad all along, and then to have him ripped from me yet again was worlds-shattering, but yes- I miss him. I miss him every day.” Jewel admitted.

  “Well, hopefully, now that you’ve gotten more control over your Keeper of Tempus powers, we will be able to visit these other worlds and gather the ingredients we need to finish that potion, so you don’t have to miss him anymore.” Galadriel stated.

  “That’s the plan.” Jewel said. The two stared at each other for a few moments, before Jewel finally stood. “Well, um, I guess we should go down to the river. Everyone is probably waiting.”

  Galadriel nodded and followed Jewel out of the tent. The pair made their way down to the river in a comfortable silence. Jewel was happy that she had gotten the opportunity to talk to Galadriel, and that their friendship was still intact. But there were still a few things that she was finding confusing. The main one being Galadriel’s outburst about Jewel not being able to see that he cared for her and how he felt. It seemed like Galadriel had wanted to say something more, but had held back, which for Galadriel- was completely out of character. But that was something Jewel would have to figure out at a different time. For now, her only objective was to try and explain to the group what transpired when she and her dad spoke.

  When Jewel and Galadriel arrived at the river, everyone was already gathered together, whispering amongst themselves. Rain was the first to make eye contact with Jewel and she gave a subtle thumbs up motion to let Rain know that everything was okay. Frost walked over to meet Jewel before she made it all the way to the group.

  Galadriel looked over at Frost and frowned before looking back at Jewel. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

  Frost watched Galadriel walk away for a moment, scowling all the while, until he turned back to Jewel and asked, “Everything okay?”

  Jewel nodded. “Yep. Everything is fine.”

  Frost slung his arm around Jewel’s shoulders and the two of them walked down to the river. Everyone’s attention had shifted to the fact that Jewel had arrived, and they each held a questioning gaze. All of whom were just waiting to see what it was that Jewel was going to say this time around.

  Not one to beat around the bush, Jewel just jumped right into her explanation of what happened leading up to her conversation with her dad, what the conversation with her dad had encompassed, and the details surrounding her family history and the rare forms of magic they held. Well, everything exce
pt the part about Shade and Gertrude having a possible more pleasure than business relationship. That little tidbit, Jewel kept to herself. She had no proof and didn’t want to cause Skye any undue upset.

  “Wow.” Winter began, clearly taken aback by the information Jewel had divulged. “I had no idea Rose had the ability to spell-cast or a proclivity for potions. In all the years that I knew her, she never showed any indication of being able to do either one. But then again, I never knew about Juniper or Reed for that matter. Your mom and her family were always at the top of their class, but I never could have imagined just how gifted they all truly were even in my wildest imagination.”

  “My question then is how much more can Hybrid do? We know a little bit more, but what about the grandparents. Surely someone else in the family must have married between the two magical lines, because if not- how did they come by these powers that are not normally seen in Elementals?” Jade inquired.

  Jewel shrugged. “I have no idea, and I’m not sure anyone other than my Mom would have the answers to that.”

  “I think the most important thing now is to come up with a bunch of powers and see if Girlie has any more surprises for us.” Ambrosia said.

  “I do want to explore what powers might still be locked away or hidden, but I think we need to hold off on that until I figure out the extent of the powers I already have.” Jewel said. “I had no idea my Empath powers could be used in reverse, so that was a little shocking to learn.”

  “It was shocking to be on the receiving end of it too.” Galadriel stated nonchalantly.

  “Yeah, well, you wouldn’t have needed to be on the receiving end of it if you hadn’t pushed Gem to that point.” Frost growled.

  “Green and I talked, and we have moved past that, so I’m not going to go back and forth with you about it.” Galadriel said, effectively brushing Frost off which only served to infuriate the Elemental.

  Before things could get too crazy, Jewel jumped in. “Yes, we talked. And things are okay now, but like I said before-” She started, turning her attention back towards Ambrosia. “-I feel like I need to explore my active powers more in depth before I search out any more that might be hidden.”

  Ambrosia nodded. “Makes sense, Girlie. But we will need to do that at some point.”

  “Agreed.” Jewel said. “Now, the next thing I think we need to discuss is which world we want to visit first. We need seven more ingredients in order to finish the potion and we need to locate someone on the Council to try and figure out how to get rid of Slayer.”

  “Gem.” Frost started, an exasperated expression crossing his sculpted features. “You’ve been through a lot today. You’ve learned a lot today. I think it would be a good idea to take some time to process everything, and postpone this whole, portal, visiting other worlds thing.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Jewel snapped, feeling her temper rise by the moment.

  “Uh oh. She’s doing that S.O.S. thing again.” Lyric smirked.

  “Uh, Spitfire.” Rain started. “I get why you’re annoyed with Snowball for even suggesting a postponement, but you’re starting to glow again and your hair, while really pretty with all the green streaks, seems to be kind of permanent. Not sure you want to have your skin do the same thing.”

  Jewel tried to slow down her heartrate and focus on what Rain had pointed out. Last thing Jewel needed was to be a weird shade of green the rest of her life. It might be a cool color, but since there was no guarantee, she didn’t want to test it out. Boogers or pea soup color green would be terrible to be unable to escape from.

  “There you go, Spitfire.” Rain smiled. “Barely glowing at all now.”

  “Where do you suggest we go first, Love?” Skye asked, delving right back into the conversation.

  “I was kind of hoping that Sage and Trickster could point us in the right direction.” Jewel answered before turning to Sage and Galadriel. “I know we all narrowed the worlds to visit down, but you both know more about the possible whereabouts for ingredients. What do you think?”

  Sage glanced at Galadriel, before pulling out a small notepad from his pocket. “Well….like you mentioned, we have seven ingredients that we still need in order to make the potion ourselves. However, what I’m hoping is that if we can find someone on the Council, that they will be able to point us in the right direction to find an antidote that is perhaps already made. I really can’t imagine that they’ve kept Slayer all this time and haven’t come up with one.”

  Galadriel nodded. “Yeah. No one in power wants to be vulnerable, so I think Sage is right. They probably have something already. But since we don’t know that for sure, and we don’t know if they will help us even if they do, I think that the first world we visit should be somewhere with the highest likelihood of a friendly welcome and the most probable one where we can gain allies and an ingredient for the potion while we’re at it.”

  “O-kay, and where might that be Trickster” Rain asked, her brow raised in a very ‘come on, get on with it’, type of way.

  “I think we should go to the Elven realm.” Galadriel stated.

  Jewel heard a low growl-like noise to her left. She looked over and was surprised to see Foster’s face contorted in an angry snarl.

  “Uh, I’m not sure that Foster agrees, Trickster.” Jewel said warily.

  “Definitely doesn’t agree, Spitfire.” Rain added.

  “Not at all.” Jade agreed.

  “What’s the issue between you and Elves, Fairy?” Ambrosia asked, her head cocked to the side, obviously curious to see what his answer would be, and she definitely wasn’t the only one.

  “They are bloody parasites. Untrustworthy, manipulative, selfish lot. The lot of them.” Foster seethed, his English accent becoming more pronounced with each word.

  “Uh huh.” Ambrosia smirked. “And how, pray tell, do you know that?”

  “Because I’ve met a couple of them. A long, long time ago mind you, but I can’t see them changing.” Foster sniffed.

  “What did they do to you?” Jewel asked, noticing the yellow and burgundy aura surrounding the Fairy.

  Foster’s wings began to flutter angrily as he started to speak. “They are the sole reason I was caught by the Horde in the first place. They set me up, and because of them- I spent decades locked away in the Hordequarters, being tortured and imprisoned.”

  “They’re the ones?” Ambrosia inquired, a shocked expression crossing her features.

  Foster gave a curt nod, and Ambrosia let out a low whistle. Teagan came over and placed his hand on Foster’s shoulder in a very fatherly way, and Sage looked confused and intrigued over this turn of events.

  “We will not make that our first visit then.” Teagan announced, clapping Foster on the back, but making sure to watch his wings. “Young One, is it possible to visit the Elven world at a later time?”

  Jewel nodded. “Sure. That’s no problem.” And it really wasn’t, because Jewel could tell that Foster was upset by the mere memory of what had happened with the Elves, and it didn’t make her want to visit that world anytime soon.

  “Well, aside from the Elven realm, these are our top choices- we have the Mermaid realm.” Sage began.

  “The Centaur realm.” Galadriel added.

  “The Djinn realm.” Sage said.

  “The Troll realm.” Galadriel stated.

  “And the Pixie realm.” Sage finished. “But I would save that particular realm for a just-in-case scenario, because according to information I found in The Worlds Around Us, they are not known to be very friendly.”

  “I personally think that the Mermaid realm would be our best bet for our first visit.” Zephyr offered. “It holds the highest probability for us to find at least one of the ingredients and I believe they will be the easiest to align ourselves with.”

  “I hate to say it, but I actually agree with Puff?” Galadriel smirked.

  Zephyr rolled his grey eyes. “Is it too late to change my answer?”

  “Yes,
because I believe you are right.” Winter said, pursing her lips. “We will need to tread carefully, however. Mermaids are not known for their patience and they can spot a lie from a mile away.”

  “Then I see no reason why the meeting won’t go smoothly.” Jewel said. “I have no intention of lying to anyone.”

  “Well, then…that’s settled.” Skye said. “When do we leave, Love?”

  Jewel thought about it for a moment, and then remembered what her Dad had told her about following her instincts. Looking at everyone in the group, Jewel uttered one word determinedly.

  “Now.” Jewel replied seriously. “We leave now.”

  Chapter Seven

  Bubble-Exoskeletons

  “Now?” Ambrosia screeched. “You want to leave now?” She repeated as though not quite sure she had heard Jewel’s statement correctly. “I think that green in your hair has addled your brain, Girlie, because there is no way that we can leave right now.”

  Jewel was about to argue her point, but Frost interjected. “We aren’t ready right now, Gem. We still need to gather supplies and plan for every possible outcome.” He reasoned.

  But Jewel shook her head. “There’s no time to plan for every possible outcome, even if we could, which we can’t. And if we need something, I’ll just bring us back here.” She said as though it were the easiest thing in the worlds. “I really feel like now is the best time to go, Snowman. There’s really no reason to wait at this point.”

  “Hold on Snowman. Before you say anything, I have a question.” Rain jumped in, hand raised a bit like she was back in the Elemental Academy and not in the middle of the Lost Meadow. “And don’t take this the wrong way, Spitfire, because I don’t want it to seem like I’m doubting you.…..but do you know for certain that you can open a portal to the Mermaid world?” She asked, chewing her lip before adding, “I mean, how do you know you won’t open a portal to a world we don’t want to end up in. And how do we know your magic and Immune status will be the same in these other worlds? What if we get there and you can’t open a portal back or you’re captured, and we can’t use our magic?” She asked, worry etched on her face. “Are you willing to bet your life and our lives on the fact that your powers will be unaffected? Do you feel like if we don’t go right now that it’ll somehow hurt our chances to help your Dad? And do you think you can create a portal on demand? Did your Dad help you with that?”