ã€ŠPath Between Realms (Choosing Magic)ã€‹


 Part 1

    Addison put her face between the palms of her hands, leaning her elbows tree stump in front of her.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be so bad,¡± the faerie queen said, the pitch varying up and down.

    It created a sound that was almost a soft song, but it always hit Addison in the space behind her eyes. She shuddered, not bothering to hide it in her frustration.

    ¡°I know it won¡¯t. Matilda is a step up above the demons. Several steps, actually,¡± Addison responded without moving her face. The words came out garbled, but the queen didn¡¯t so much as raise an eyebrow.

    She did flap her long wings, sending a glittery breeze in Addison''s direction.

    ¡°The witch wanted a daughter. Instead, she got a timeshare. Her work is hard and she grows tired,¡± the queen said, moving to sit down on the ground next to her daughter. ¡°We are all doing our best-¡±

    ¡°Given the unusual arrangement.¡± Addison cut her off. ¡°I know.¡±

    She pulled her face out of her hands and straightened out her spine. ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling restless. The rules, and the travel¡­¡±

    ¡°You know¡­2 more years and you can choose.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Addison turned her head toward the queen and lifted an eyebrow.

    ¡°Where to live. Who to serve. What powers to master,¡± the queen reached a pale hand out, letting it lightly touch the human''s shoulder.¡°You can choose the realm of the Fae or the Witch. Soon.¡±

    Addison felt her eyebrow rise even higher than it had before. ¡°I get to choose? I get powers?¡± she asked.

    The queen laughed, the sound carrying in the air around them. ¡°Of course.¡±

    Addison opened her mouth to speak again when her vision began to blur. The objects around her began to swirl together, and the faerie queens smiling face faded into nothing. She closed her eyes as the bile in her stomach began to boil upwards toward her throat. Just when she thought she would lose it, the ground beneath her settled.

    Her mind stopped reeling, and her inner ear stabilized again.

    When she opened her eyes the lush grass and willow trees of the fae were gone, replaced by cabin logs and a dusty floor beneath her.

    ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± Matilda growled from behind her.

    Despite nausea having barely subsided, Addison whipped her head around to see the Witch sitting at the long and heavy kitchen table. The cauldron sat atop it, cold and sturdy as always.

    ¡°Then you¡¯re late bringing me here,¡± she muttered as she stood up. Her hands swept across her pants to remove the dirt and dust from her clothing.

    ¡°That creepy winged woman could have sent you here.¡±

    ¡°And if they had clocks and calenders nailed to the trees, I would have asked her to,¡± Addison combated, her voice louder and angrier than the last comment.

    ¡°Addy,¡± the witch started, and then let out a sigh of pure exhaustion. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You are here now, and I need some nightshade.¡±

    ¡°Of course. And I suppose I am meant to walk to the village?¡±

    ¡°I would go,¡± Matilda said, ¡°but I would rather not be poked with pitchforks today.¡±

 Part 2

    Addison rolled her eyes and walked over to the old witch. ¡°Where is the pouch?¡±

    Matilda glanced up from her wrinkled, yellow book, and let out a short cackle. ¡°You mean the gold pouch?¡±

    The question hung in the air, oddly heavy and pointed.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Addison said, at last, breaking the tension before it became a solid mass. ¡°The gold pouch. It¡¯s not like I have enough time in one area to get a job, even if the village-folk trusted me.¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t trust me either, Child. That¡¯s why I needed you in the first place,¡± Matilda winked and then turned her attention downward once more. ¡°The pouch is in the cauldron.¡±

    Addison hesitated. It was an odd place to keep the entire supply of gold, considering how acidic some of the potion ingredients were. It felt like a trap of some sort, although she couldn¡¯t figure out what the end game would be.

    ¡°Go on. We aren¡¯t getting any younger while you dawdle,¡± the witch taunted, her voice jovial yet scratchy.

    A low huff left Addison''s mouth, and she clenched her fists. She wanted nothing more in the world than shove the witches jokes back in her face or throw one of the dirty vials across the room. Despite her abnormal upbringing, normal hormones raged through her body. She took a deep to calm herself and released her fists.

    Both of her palms had little indents from her fingernails. ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Turning in small degrees, she faced the middle of the table, and the large iron beast. Her feet inched forward, a lump forming in her throat. If the pouch was a trap than the whole thing would be. The witch had a temper that didn¡¯t quit and was quite vengeful in her old age.

    What felt like moments later, she reached the middle of the table and stared at the cauldron face to face.

    Her hand stretched up and away from her body, shaking slightly as it went.

    ¡°Addison¡­It¡¯s not going to bite. I had to make more coins today.¡±

    The truth collided with Addison, and cause her cheeks to flare with heat. ¡°Of course,¡± she said, her arm freezing in midair.

    ¡°You are always twitchy when I get you back from the Fae.¡±

    Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Addison let the insult to die out on its own. She never won when she chose to banter, and she was embarrassed enough as it was. In one swift movement, she lifted on her toes and plunged her arm into the cauldron. At the very edge of her reach was a string made of rough material. Her fingers pulled and managed to pull the burlap pouch out on her first attempt.

    Grateful for the little things, she chucked the little pouch slightly in the air and caught it with both hands.

    ¡°I expect change,¡± Matilda said as Addison turned toward the door.

    ¡°You¡­¡± Addison started to make a joke, then thought better of it. She was in a strange defiant mood and pushing her luck with the witch rarely got her anywhere. ¡°Will get the change. Let¡¯s just hope I¡¯m back before the demons summon me.¡±

    Without waiting for a response, she pushed her way out of the creaky front door. She wished the witch would come into modern times, and move out of the damn shack. It might make her go from ¡®not to the worst¡¯, to a tolerable parent.

    They both knew it would be several days before she was sent into the third realm. Despite the odd disparities of her caretakers, they seemed to respect the arrangement well enough. What she knew even in moments like these where that even the worst of them was better than the person her birth-mother would have been.

 Part 3

    The strings of the pouch allowed her to swing it in wide circles as she walked along the cobblestone street. The village wasn¡¯t that far, and she didn¡¯t really mind the walk. The witch lived in a temperate area of the human realm. The sun had already started dipping down to the horizon, and every few feet a slow breeze would roll past.

    The walk to the village went by quicker than she thought it was going to. Her thoughts caught up in what the faerie queen had told her.

    All her life she had taken it for granted that while her life was different than other humans, it was all that was available to her. There was nowhere for her to run in any of the realms where she wouldn¡¯t be found. They could all sense her, and most of them could summon her at will.

    Except that now she knew a special truth. Very soon- soon enough at least- she would be able to separate herself from all of that. She would be able to get away from the hectic day-to-day life that came with so many supernatural parents. She would be able to cut ties with the grimy demons once and for all. She would be able to travel inside one realm- whichever one she chose.

    Or¡­Addison suddenly realized, if she chose her powers smartly she could travel between the two at will. She could be alone or with family and friends.

    The possibilities began to swirl around her mind so fast that they almost made her dizzy.

    It felt like in the blink of an eye she had gone from reaching into the cauldron to smelling the chimneys of the villagers. They always cooked sweet-smelling things. Never potions and vile concoctions. The cauldron tainted the witches cakes and loaves of bread, and when she came back from the realm of the Fae she always lost her appetite.

    A rush of breath escaped her lips. Restless seemed like an understatement. The whole set up just wasn''t working for her anymore.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    As her feet carried her passed the thresh-hold of wilderness and village proper, she pulled the pouch tighter into the palm of her hand. Swinging it around in front of the villagers wouldn¡¯t get her anywhere pleasant. She had lost some respect that way before; and a few gold coins.

    She moved down the main street, taking in deep breaths to smell everything she could. The winds carried it all her way, and her lips pulled upward to a wide smile despite the turmoil inside her.

    ¡°Hello Timmy,¡± she said when a dog began to bark. Her eyes hadn¡¯t moved from the path in front of her, and her smile stretched as she heard a boy shushing his pet.

    A few shops down from the duo, she turned and stepped up onto a slightly raised platform. The village offered no distinction between vehicles, animals, or pedestrians. The slab of concrete allowed enough room for the safety of a few display cases, and a place for her feet as she pushed the door open.

    A whiny set of bells rang above her head- a jingle that let the owner know a customer had arrived.

    ¡°Welcome to Lori¡¯s Herbalist Shop, How can I-¡± a sweet voice sang out, cutting off as she and Addison made eye contact. ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the greeting, Lori,¡± Addison quipped. She clenched a fist around her pouch of coins, hoping they would keep her from making her palms bleed inside the store. Her face turned away from the counter to scan the shop. ¡°Nightshade?¡±

    Lori made a noise that wasn¡¯t exactly discernible, but Addison could imagine her face. She had told Matilda that the villagers didn¡¯t trust her- but they wouldn¡¯t tolerate the witch at all. At least the weird little plain-faced girl was just an annoyance.

    Addison always had gold and never dawdled. Even if no one thought she had any business being near their business.

    There was a shuffling noise followed by a scrape, and then a loud thud. Raising her eyebrows Addison turned back around the counter. It seemed like a hefty amount of movement, and Lori was either unpacking stock or had just hauled a body onto her counter.

    ¡°Nightshade.¡± The woman said and pulled a crowbar above the counter.

    ¡°Sealed in the box?¡± Addison asked. She glanced around at the rest of the shop. She was certain that the other plants didn¡¯t arrive that way and then continue to bloom.

    ¡°Dried. I just found a new supplier.¡± The woman wiggled her eyebrows and began to pull the top off the box.

    ¡°Do you¡­¡± Addison began as she took a step toward the commotion, ¡°Can I get both?¡±

    Lori let out a snort. ¡°Sure. But its gonna cost you.¡±

 Part 4

    Addison walked out of the herbalist with a wide bag made out of soft cloth. Inside sat both forms of nightshade and the burlap pouch she had arrived with. The small pouch had only a fraction of the coins she had been sent with, and there was a mousy voice in the back of her mind telling her that Matilda was likely going to be miffed about that fact.

    She hadn¡¯t been able to pass up the opportunity, and nothing but her currency had seemed worthwhile to trade for the products she wanted.

    Surely the item was more important than what it cost, she reasoned.

    Day turned to dusk as she walked. By the time she set the herbs down on the table inside the witch¡¯s home, the sun had retired for the night.

    The table had been cleared of the heavy cauldron and other paraphernalia of the day''s experiments.

    ¡°Matilda?¡± Addison called out.

    It wasn¡¯t exactly a great idea to startle her on an active magic day. Her last singed hair cut had taken almost a year to grow out again.

    ¡°Matilda¡­¡± she called again as she backed away from the wooden slab. Glancing around the room she didn¡¯t spot any clues as to where she went and let out an impatient rush of breath. She was certain the old witch was playing games with her, and the day would turn from exhausting to bitter in one round.

    Her feet moved hesitantly toward the back of the single-story dwelling. Behind the living room and kitchen sat two tiny bedrooms and a bathroom. She was lucky there was a private place at all for her bed and stuff since she only spent a third of her year anywhere near the human shack. She never voiced complaints, and she never touched the other room.

    Standing on the warped floorboards at the back of the hallway, her eyes glanced at the doors. All three of them were closed, and even though she knew which room was which- all of them suddenly seemed ominous and off-limits. Her heart beat a little faster, a spike of anxiety making her unsure of herself and what to do next.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    She had done what she had been told- she had walked to the village and gotten the herbs. She had brought back the change and come back to¡­silence, even though the task had been important enough to rip her from the queen in the middle of a sentence.

    ¡°Mom?¡± The words came out barely above a whisper.

    A cackle came bursting through the walls. The sound slid around the cracks in the door and wafted in-between the wooden slats. It grew to a dull roar of dry laughter, and Addison cringed. Her shoulders lifted to her neck, and she took a step back away from the door.

    Her body had finished its movement mere seconds before the door flew open, unleashing the full cacophony of the witches lingering cackle.

    ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you lead with that?¡± Matilda asked, speaking from somewhere inside the dimly lit bedroom.

    ¡°So now we are playing tricks?¡± Addison asked. She chose not to move any of her other muscles.

    ¡°I played no tricks, Addy.¡± The scratchy voice called when the laughter had finally stopped. During the silence that followed the words, two small thumps came from the room, followed by footsteps toward the door. Matilda stopped at the doorway and looked out at the hallway, making a point to look at everything else before landing on Addison. ¡°I missed you.¡±

    ¡°You have a funny way of showing it.¡± With her piece spoke, Addison turned and moved back out to the living room. She waved an arm toward the table, assuming that the sounds behind her were still more footsteps. ¡°It¡¯s in the bag.¡±

    ¡°And my cha-¡± Matilda began to ask before she was cut off.

    ¡°The remaining coins are in there too.¡± Addison rushed through the words, not in the mood to deal with useless arguments. She let her arm drop down to her side, and she walked out the door.

    It shut behind her with a dull thud. There was no way of telling how pissed off the witch would be, or if she would follow her out the door. She wasn¡¯t sure it mattered. Nature was calling her, and she didn¡¯t intend to be cooped up and made fun of while ignoring that call.

    A few feet away from the door, Addison sat out in a patch of dying grass. She scooped her legs up and wrapped her arms underneath her knees. She knew she was being childish, and she knew she would pay for it any minute. She looked up at the stars, wishing she could join them just for a night.

 Part 5

    The night wore on without Addison noticing.

    A series of thin clouds meandered across the sky, occasionally blocking her view of the stars, and often trying to hide the moon. The air down closer to the earth was stiller than whatever moved the clouds around.

    Not a single breeze had touched her face when the door opened behind her, sometime later. The scraping noise broke her reverie, making her unsure how much time had passed since she had thrown her little fit.

    ¡°You coming to bed, Addy?¡± Matilda said from the doorway.

    Her voice was rough as always but timid. It was not a quality Addison had ever associated with the old hag.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She didn¡¯t look back as she responded.

    It wasn¡¯t like she had anticipated sleeping out in the open, laying on the cold hard ground. It would be uncomfortable at the best, and that said nothing of the wilderness that surrounded them.

    Silence regained its throne in the stale air around them.

    Footsteps shuffled into the house, and then came forward again. The door didn¡¯t move, and Addison could only guess what was happening behind her. It had been a long day, and she wasn¡¯t sure she could keep her cool if the witch kept up her antics. Even for a lonely spinster with a mean streak they had been bad.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been gone a while, Addy. I finally mastered a spell from the old book.¡±

    Addison kept her eyes upward at the sky, but they also widened. ¡°The nightshade?¡±

    Matilda snorted. ¡°No.¡± Her shuffling footsteps moved from the front door to the patch of dead grass. She didn¡¯t sit down, but she did lean and tap Addison''s shoulder, motioning for her to pay attention. Dense muttering followed the action as she stood up. The noises became a chant with inseparable word and rhymes.

    Several moments later, the mumbles became a rolling and echoing yell, ending as a puff of airy dust left Matilda''s hand.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    Addison hadn¡¯t looked over to see what the witch had been holding, but the pouch wouldn¡¯t have told her much anyways. All the pouches looked the same; cut from scratchy burlap with zero markings on the outside.

    The dust continued to rise in the air, lifted above the oxygen the two women were breathing. It was carried up and away by some force that neither of them felt- perhaps by sheer magic and will power. True magic was rare. Most of it was written in tomes like the old book, grimoires, and books of shadows. Ancient languages and yellowing pages.

    The spells were archaic and arcane, unusable by the vast majority of humans- and even most creatures that weren¡¯t. In all the time that Addison had been with Matilda, she had only mastered 2 other pages and only a few in the witches lifetime before that.

    Odds were good that this would be something very special to witness.

    As the particles got too far and separate for their eyes to distinguish, the sky began to change. Addison''s mouth opened slightly as if to ask what was happening, but the words didn¡¯t form. Her eyes were focused on the air above her, and all her other thoughts melted away as fast as they formed inside her head.

    The space above them had transformed. The night sky had dropped down into the atmosphere, and the dust had become stars, swirling right above their heads. It was if the universe had heard Addison''s wish earlier, and found a way to make it come true. It seemed unreal that the spell the witch had learned would be so real; so visceral; and so timely all at once.

    When the illusion had faded, Addison looked over at the witch- now sitting down next to her. ¡°How?¡±

    A crooked smile washed over Matilda¡¯s face, and she stood up without answering. ¡°Time for bed,¡± she said and walked inside.

    <hr>

    After the demonstration of the spell, things went back to normal. Addison felt a tug at her feelings about whether it was for better or worse. The bitter back and forth settled, but there was that had been the last warm moment they had.

    Instead, Addison ran errands, cleaned the cauldron and vials, and generally resented being traded between human riffraff. She daydreamt about slinking back to the fairies, usually when she was supposed to be doing something else.

    The general atmosphere of the shack was well represented to her as a banging come at her door one morning just as the sun rose.

    ¡°Addy!¡± Matilda roared on the other side of the door.

    ¡°It¡¯s not locked¡­¡± she responded flatly, eyes not wanting to be open.

    The wood scraped against the floor, like all the other doors in the house, letting in the hallway lights and cool air that rushed in the front end.

    ¡°There is a pouch of coins on the table. You need to get me supplies before you leave.¡±

    Addison sat up, her heavy eyelids barely letting her see the empty doorway.

    ¡°Of course,¡± she muttered and swung her legs over the edge. ¡°Whatever would you do without me?¡±

 Part 6

    A bag of common magic supplies and a bag of long-lasting foodstuffs set on the table, Addison untied the pouch from her wrist. She hadn¡¯t trusted it to stay put in the bag as usual, and she didn¡¯t want a fight about gold to be the last conversation they had.

    Her arms were sluggish, tired from carrying everything home at once.

    ¡°There you go. You know it won¡¯t last you the entire time though,¡± she said, tossing the coin pouch into Matilda''s open hands.

    The arthritic knuckles closed around the clanking object with ease, an action that at first glance looked painful.

    ¡°Not your concern when you are down in hell.¡± the old witch jabbed, not bothering to make eye contact.

    Addison rolled her eyes. It was another one of her senseless statements that didn¡¯t help either of them. As if the witch forgot that it was the same series of deals that allowed her time to run her errands as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure they are waiting now, at any rate.¡±

    With the words out of her mouth, Addison took a wide step backward, putting herself closer to the middle of the room. She didn¡¯t want to risk the table and all its edges as she made the transition out of the human realm.

    ¡°We all wait, Addy. We all wait, and we all wait for the witch to do her magic,¡± Matilda said, her hands toying with the pouch still.

    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to send me down, Matilda. Please don¡¯t wait for them to do it,¡± Addison began to plead, crossing her arms and leaning her weight on one hip. ¡°I¡¯ve told you how unpleasant their way is.¡±

    The old witch let out a cackle that made the hair on Addison''s neck stand up.

    With that, she knew that it wasn¡¯t going to be the easy way. She would go from her favorite place to two realms that didn¡¯t care one way or another. She let a heavy sigh escape her lips, and closed her eyes. Bracing herself against a wall or on the floor had never helped in the past.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Once she was summoned, her relationships to the human realm and its laws of physics was utterly disconnected, making everything go weird.

    It was easier if she didn¡¯t start with an expectation of comfort.

    ¡°You will be back whether you like it or not.¡± Matilda¡¯s voice had begun to distort at the edges of the sentence.

    Her timing hadn¡¯t been too far off, but she was still caught by surprise by being pulled down so soon. Either her parents were beginning to get itchy, or her internal clock was throwing her the wrong signals. It was difficult to tell which one it was at that moment however, as her gut felt like it was leaving her body through her throat. She felt pulled in multiple directions at once, but her heart was going downward.

    Her legs fell out from underneath her, and she could feel the hot wind rushing past her bare arms. She wished that she had remembered to wear longer garments for the trip.

    They made her feel hotter, to begin with, but they protected her skin a lot better than the thin T-shirt she had worn that day.

    The transition from the human realm to the homes of the demons wasn¡¯t easy, and it wasn¡¯t necessarily fast. Lucky for Addison, her thoughts ran so far away from her while it happened that she lost track, and was usually surprised when she landed so suddenly.

    She smacked into a solid surface, what little breath she had shoved from her torso.

    ¡°Aaahh, Fudge it all to hell!¡± Addison yelled when her lungs expanded again.

    ¡°We don¡¯t like fudge in hell.¡± A voice said behind her, the sound similar to a rake against a pile of rocks.

    ¡°Can you like¡­learn what a turn of phrase is already, Abbadon?¡±

    She got no response. After a moment of silence, she heard a series of scraping sounds that usually signaled Demon number 1 had walked away from the immediate vicinity. Another sigh left her mouth, more dramatic than the last had been.

    ¡°You guys really are the worst,¡± she mumbled and forced herself to stand up.

    They had summoned her to an area even dustier and dingier than Matilda''s shack, forcing Addison to brush the red dirt off of her clothes. She spent several moments trying, only to have her hands feel chalky, and the legs of her pants still look dirty. She clenched her teeth and took a look around her.

    It didn¡¯t matter where she was, but it did matter where Abbadon had gone. He was the only way she could move through the doors of his region. Without him, she was utterly stranded.

 Part 7

    Addison scanned the surroundings as she moved forward, looking for any of the demons. It seemed like she had been summoned in a cave, thin enough to see the walls on either side, but too tall to see most of the ceiling. The majority of the light was ambient, floating in from the wide mouth ahead of her.

    ¡°Am I staying down here then?¡± she called out, inching toward the opening.

    The demons didn¡¯t keep her without work. She honestly couldn¡¯t decide at that moment what she was going to prefer. Would her spirits be lifted by cleaning the whipping floor, or would she feel better as a beggar in the human realm? The list of menial tasks was unending.

    Each of them sounded worse than the last, she decided as she continued walking. She liked the human world- it beat what sat underneath it. But the witch had left her sour, and she needed comfort and solitude. Things she would likely only get upon returning to the Fae.

    ¡°See if I choose any of you then!¡±

    The words left her mouth in a joking yell, and as they bounced off the walks and echoed forward, she immediately regretted them. A small voice in the back of her began to taunt her, cut off by a rush of dry wind on her face.

    ¡°We¡¯ll see what, exactly?¡± a scraping voice asked.

    Addison let out a small sigh, realizing Abbadon hadn¡¯t gone as far as she had feared. He had simply moved outside the cave. The demon was probably the worst of the three, having ignored the human realm entirely. He understood speech, but nothing else about her. ¡°If I choose any of you. I do get to choose someday,¡± she said, taking the last step to the mouth of the cave.

    A vibrating thud stopped her in her tracks. It was followed by its twin, and Addison flinched before she looked up at the tall red beast. ¡°Some sort of threat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Some sort of threat,¡± she mumbled in response.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    A flutter of butterflies bounced around in her stomach. It appeared that her mouth was in the mood to test one guardian after another cycle. But instead of an assault, she watched as he snorted in her direction and turned his back to her.

    ¡°Perhaps you spend too much time up there.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps we should have negotiated better,¡± a third voice said from another group of shadows.

    Addison took the chance to walk further out, not sure yet who else had joined the conversation.

    ¡°You are supposed to be the one in charge of deals, Rikas,¡± Abbadon spoke as he perched himself on a stool.

    The piece of wood bowed underneath the beast''s weight, and Addison wondered why he bothered with the undersized equipment.

    Rikas moved forward, his footsteps barely shifting the dust underneath him. Addison wished she spent more time with him if she was being honest. He looked like her; spent time in a human form more often than not. Even when he shifted to his beastly self was smaller.

    More palatable.

    As far as demons went, she supposed. He rolled his eyes at the dainty workbench beside his partner and moved further toward Addison and the cave. ¡°Indeed, brother. I made the original deal that was meant to seal us a child.¡±

    Abbadon let out another snort but otherwise didn¡¯t seem to move.

    ¡°I was asking where I¡¯m being stationed? What''s the quest this time?¡± Addison asked during a moment of silence. Gruesome work awaited, she was sure, but she couldn¡¯t stand to be in the middle of petty arguing.

    It was worse somehow when a hulking demon of hell was talking down to you. Especially when he never understood the comebacks.

    Rikas bridged the remaining distance, leaning against one wall of the cave and looked at her. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡±

    Addison let her eyes drift over to his position, rotating herself so that she could see him without craning. ¡°You don¡¯t know? Why the rush getting me here then? And why..here?¡± There had been a vague sense of amusement while the two beasts had been speaking, but now her irritation was back full force.

    Getting thrown around realm to realm, dust to dust to run empty errands. It was old and she wasn¡¯t sure why she was doing any of it anymore. ¡°This is the best use of my soul? My body? Me?¡± The words came rolling out of her before she could think to stop them.

    The man in front of her shrugged his shoulders lazily. His eyes moved down the length of her body and then back up again. ¡°We didn¡¯t bargain you away, child. We didn¡¯t separate your soul for you. If it were me alone, you would be at the crossroads.¡±

    A third grunting laugh rolled around the room, echoing into the cave she had come from.

    ¡°It¡¯s not up to me. This is not a deal I can barter. This is hell for all of us.¡±

 Part 8

    Addison closed her eyes before they rolled in front of those less tolerant of human annoyance. A small breath in and she opened them again, hoping to keep an eye on the expressions and movements of the two beasts in the room with her.

    ¡°Can you at least ask him why we are in the workshop?¡± she asked, and pulled her arms to her chest, hugging her elbows.

    It wasn¡¯t cold, it wasn¡¯t hot either despite all appearances, but she just wanted to find some comfort and space of her own. She also assumed that the third demon would be arriving eventually, and he was the least aware of personal bubbles.

    ¡°You think mister hellfire and handcuffs over there answers to me? If he did we wouldn¡¯t be here, Addison.¡± Rikas leaned back against a far wall, glancing around the room periodically.

    She chose to keep her lips together, not asking more questions that didn¡¯t get her answers. She had gotten more than enough useless and empty information by now. She wanted out of the room and time to think about her situation and the future.

    She wanted to be out on the crossroads if she was being honest with herself for a moment. It gave her space, and it let her be close to the human realm yet away from the old witch. But before her thoughts could wander any further, a vibration ran across her back. It went under her feet, and after a moment she heard a series of thuds.

    The ambient light of hell was ever moving and seemed to change its source depending on its mood day by day. Sometimes it was light bulbs and lamps, and others it was fire and walls red enough to scour the eyes of lesser folk. Wherever it came from, it vanished for several moments when Josefel appeared.

    An echoing grumble escaped his body, and the room filled with smoke.

    Addison wondered, this time like every time if the theatrics were necessary. She wondered, as she coughed up and filled her nostrils with sulfur, if he did this into every single nook and cranny- or if it was just for her benefit. In all her years she had never seen him enter a room any other way, despite him having a form that was capable of moving about like a normal beast.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    She coughed until he had found his nearly-human form, looking very close to a stereotypical version of Satan. Her eyes stung, and when she finally caught her breath again, she could hear Abbadon laughing.

    The room was cramped, despite the spacious nature of the realm, and the gigantic cave directly next to her. A series of noises filtered into the silence- bangs, distance screams, and a snort that she couldn¡¯t place an owner to.

    ¡°Someone,¡± Josefel began speaking. His voice hit her ears at a level she was had never grown comfortable with. It seemed to come from inside but vibrated on the way in. Addison had never properly been able to describe the sensation. ¡°Has been asking questions.¡±

    He only said one sentence and looked directly at Addison. She pulled her elbows in closer to herself, putting uncomfortable pressure on her ribs and forcing herself to inhale more smoke/sulfuric air.

    ¡°Someone was also thrown onto the ground, with no task,¡± Rikas said.

    It sounded as if he were coming to her side, but she knew better. She may be at the center, but he was starting another argument. She knew enough to know their battles, and they were about to wage another one.

    ¡°Someone should be earning her keep, and being useful,¡± Rikas said again. As if to prove her point, it seemed.

    She wanted to shimmy back into the darkness that was behind her, but she also knew that she would need to stand tall eventually. If the winged queen was telling the truth, she would eventually have to announce her decision. She would have to stand in front of all three demons that had no respect for life or humanity, the witch who needed her for souls and ingredients, and the fay who she knew used her as a source of power and gathering.

    ¡°Someone is listening to us talk. Did we come to bicker, or did we come to make a deal?¡± Abbadon spoke a full sentence at last. It was in contrast to his hammering and laughing of the moments before.

    The words didn¡¯t sound like him. If she didn¡¯t know any better at all, she would have thought they came from the one across from her. The one who traded in deals as a matter of course, rather than for slave labor every few centuries.

    Addison opened her mouth, ready to answer them all despite knowing better when she was interrupted.

    ¡°You two don¡¯t go anywhere to make deals. You go to beat and bloody and make hell hellish. I make deals, and I know better than to make them with you two where we all lose.¡± Rikas pushed himself away from the wall and stretched his long arms above his head. ¡°We are here to make a decision. My guess is that goes to the brute of us all.¡±

    He looked at Addison and winked.

    As if they were in one some joke that she was going to laugh about very soon. She doubted that. She doubted that very much.

 Part 9

    The wink was the last time the three heavy bodies acknowledged her. They conversed between themselves; strictly in English for reasons, Addison would never understand.

    They acted like they didn¡¯t have any other language - the fairies always did it to. There was some explanation given to her when she was very young about telepathy and magic but it hadn¡¯t meant anything. She stood firm, believing they all made a choice.

    Standing around her and ignoring her while speaking words they knew she would understand. It was taunting, at its core. But she wasn¡¯t going to complain; it was better than getting the cliff-notes version. Terse commands and lies about what had happened.

    Instead, she stood there, eyes wandering around the room while she shifted her weight and kept part of her attention on the conversation. They were discussing where to send her for her trip, but it didn¡¯t sound at all like the argument she was expecting. There were no deals, no consequences, no talks of the long ahead future.

    At the end end of the conclusion was simple but a bit grim. Rikas dusted his hands on each other and looked her in the eyes, with his stamped and crooked grin displayed on his face. If Addison were stronger, or dumber, it would make her want to punch him in the mouth, but he was the only one who recognized her as a person and not a thing.

    He even let her stay on Earth once instead of bouncing down and then back up again.

    ¡°It appears we are ready to train your replacement. We are sending you to barter the deal.¡±

    Before she could open her mouth to speak but just after her eyebrows shot up in recognition, her gut was falling through her. She was set up out of hell and onto the earth, landing right on the crossroad. Blinking, she met the watery hazel eyes of a woman who didn¡¯t look to be that much older than herself. She was also thankful that in rare form, they had moved her gently and landed her on her feet.

    Addison could tell the woman was old enough. An actual woman; an adult, someone who likely worked for a living with all the responsibility that went with it. But she couldn¡¯t help but notice the babyness in her face as well.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Not that it mattered much. Only in so much as it could be used to relate and get her way before the end of the night. Perhaps, she thought, if she finished it fast enough she could spend extra time in the forest just this once.

    The woman looked at Addison with her hands at limp at her sides and her mouth pursed. A dull pressure behind Addison''s eyes told her she probably looked a mess. She was exhausted, had bounced from realm to realm, and the sun wasn¡¯t exactly shining at the moment.

    Aware of her squint, she tried to soften her face. She had made deals before and knew the drill, especially when it came to not being an actual demon. She needed to look soft, honest, and pliable. She needed to actually be none of those.

    She didn¡¯t actually know why they sent her when the only deals she closed were from those who were already desperate and needed no bargain. But here she was.

    ¡°You?¡± the woman asked, finally breaking the silence.

    ¡°Me and my name is Addy.¡± The words came without much effort on the girl''s part. There had been so much training that it was automatic.

    ¡°You¡¯re the demon I summoned?¡± the woman probed further. Her disbelief was palpable and almost insulting. She raised an eyebrow and immediately let it drop. Despite the apparent disapproval of her liaison, the woman still managed to have some sense.

    Addison could feel the duality pulling something out in her. She didn¡¯t want to be standing on the dirt road in the middle of the night and she didn¡¯t want to barter for souls or babies or anything else. She didn¡¯t want to run errands or the hag or sweep the floor of hell or dig holes for faires.

    More than any of that, she didn¡¯t want to be doubted on something she had spent a third of her life doing. More than that, this woman only saw her face.

    Rikas was handsome, sure, but she knew several of the crossroads demons took childish forms just to disarm humans. Sure- this one sad woman wouldn¡¯t know all of that, but it didn¡¯t stop the wave of rebellion from rising.

    ¡°I am more than sufficient. If you are not interested in making a deal, you are free to make your way back home now.¡±

    Defiance echoed both ways. The woman pulled her arms up to her chest, shifting her weight to one leg. ¡°I didn¡¯t spend a small fortune on the contents of that box to be sent back home like a scolded child.¡±

    A taste of her own medicine, huh? the thought yelled inside Addison''s chaotic mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± She spit the words, as cooly as she could muster, and proceeded to mirror the woman''s body language.

 Part 10

    Minutes passed by in near silence. Cars drove by in the distance, and the bar at the end of the intersection let out noise any time the doors opened. A single owl decided to yell at them as it flew by, but neither Addison nor her potential client took notice of it.

    The woman rolled her eyes as if a great disservice had been done to her. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m here.¡± She shifted her weight without letting the tension in her face and shoulders ease even an inch.

    Addison didn¡¯t ease at all, playing her cards close to her vest. She wasn¡¯t going to extend an invitation without knowing what the bargain was first. She may not love being in charge of deals, but she at least recognized the power she held in the middle of them.

    The only place she had it, after all.

    ¡°I want to make a deal,¡± the woman said.

    So cliche, but to the point. Addison couldn¡¯t get mad- it''s not like people came out to do this every day. She only knew anything because she didn¡¯t have any choice in the matter. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    It wasn''t a wish that brought people like this woman to the crossroads. It was never something simple when they stood they''re looking clean and dignified.

    The woman looked Addison in the eye and then shifted her gaze to the horizon. In the dim light, it was hard to tell for sure, but the facial expression seemed to grow dimmer. Determined. Desperate.

    ¡°I want a baby,¡± she said. The words left her mouth and her eyebrows shot upward instantaneously. ¡°Not someone else''s baby! I want my own baby. I want to be pregnant, and give birth¡­¡±

    A smirk pulled at Addison''s mouth even as she tried to stifle it. She didn¡¯t mean to laugh at her plight, but watching someone drop that fast made her feel a little better; a little more human.

    ¡°I could make a deal for someone else¡¯s child anyway. You can offer only a soul that is attached to you.¡± Hence how she had come to be where she was, incidentally.

    The woman let out a long sigh; it sounded tired and weak. ¡°I want to be a mother, and I can¡¯t. I don¡¯t want to leave a kid motherless though¡­¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Each of her thoughts seemed to overburden her. She had given the whole thing thought, but struggled to verbalize it; to make it true. Addison wondered if she feared making it real and being rejected. Matters of the heart did stupid things to smart minds.

    ¡°The deal would. Or it would leave a mother childless. An exchange must be made, and your end doesn¡¯t last forever.¡± The terms were shit. Humans never made out as far as Addison could tell.

    The woman''s lips pushed against each other, forming a thin peach-colored line. She squinted, effectively hiding her best facial features. ¡°You would make me pregnant, only to come one of us?¡±

    ¡°Down the road. Yes.¡±

    ¡°What''s the point?¡± she shouted. Her arms began to gesture as she spoke. ¡°Why would I take that deal? Why does anyone take this deal?¡±

    Addison smiled; a wide tooth-filled smile. She had never made this deal before. She had never been sent to collect a specific life, but she saw where the loopholes sat. ¡°For many, it¡¯s worth it. They get to be rich, or famous or loved or a few years. They push the rest - out of sight, out of mind.¡±

    She ended the sentence on a lift, signaling she wasn¡¯t quite done. She also decided to let it hang; let the thought sink in that the woman could eat her cake and have it too.

    ¡°But there may be something that I can offer you.¡±

    The sentence sat there, not yet offering solace. A breeze blew between them, shuffling the loose dirt at their feet. One man¡¯s howling laugh came from the drunken wasteland across the way, and Addison waited.

    ¡°What''s the offer?¡± The words came through the woman''s teeth, her jaw clenched just shy of audible grating.

    ¡°We make you fertile. You have twins? We take one.¡± A smile crossed Addison''s face. She wondered if this had been the type of deal her mother aimed to make. She doubted it; she had never been a pair, and her mother had not sought out fertility.

    She would have already been pregnant when she stood in a spot like this, asking for something the cretin deemed worthwhile.

    ¡°If it''s worth it at all, that is. Take it or leave it,¡± Addison said, letting her smile spread at last. She didn¡¯t know why it felt so good.

    Maybe she saw the leverage and reveled in it. Maybe she felt resourceful instead of helpless for a moment. Worst case scenario - the assholes in the pit were rubbing off on her.

    ¡°I would still lose a child,¡± the woman said, her voice wavered as it came out.

    ¡°You can take your time,¡± Addison said and turned her back. She saw nothing on the woman''s face that told her she would decide right then. It was both good and bad news.

    Perhaps she would sleep on it, and decide the life was never worth it. Or perhaps she would get desperate again and hope that the devil would forget. Either way, Addison wasn¡¯t going to lose any more time waiting to get hit by a swerving car. It was time to make use of her little bit of free time.

    Until the woman said yes or no- the deal was active.

 Part 11

    ¡°If¡­¡±

    Addison heard the woman begin to speak behind her. She had taken a few steps away, heading toward the bar across the way. They wouldn¡¯t serve her; she looked too young and was too young, but it would be a warm place to sit.

    It would have enough people that she could find someone to talk to eventually. Maybe salvage the night.

    When she heard the word, however, she stopped.

    ¡°If I only have one child¡­¡± the woman started, ending short again.

    Addison turned around, holding a soft smile on her face, she kept her eyebrows low and kept her teeth hidden. She let her arms hang at her sides, and tried to make eye contact with the nervous client. ¡°We never leave you childless.¡±

    That was a lie, and Addison knew it. The whole thing she was throwing at the woman''s face wasn¡¯t entirely true. The demons would make the deal, and they would make sure the woman got a child. They would also make sure they got one too, and if that means she had to wait, well.

    Addison was sure they would shrug their shoulders.

    It sat heavy in her gut, and she wondered if the power and freedom were worth twisting up other humans this way. Twisting up other women. Twisting up the future of some child that would someday become like her. For a moment she wished Rikas was there instead of her, or maybe just with her. He could see the inside and out of all these deals.

    He knew what would happen, and he was a much better liar.

    ¡°If I make the deal, I will get pregnant?¡± the woman asked. Her eyes were watery and it seemed as if she didn¡¯t know where to put her hands. Her demeanor was different than it had been. Disbelief had to turn to nervous hope; it was a hard look on anyone.

    ¡°You look like you could use a drink,¡± Addison said. She wasn¡¯t sure where the words came from, considering she had just given up the plan of walking into the bar, and that was after thinking they wouldn¡¯t serve her. But her statement was true despite all that.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The woman looked like there was a horrible war going on inside her head that she didn¡¯t know how to weather start to finish.

    ¡°The deal?¡± the woman asked, raising an eyebrow up halfway.

    ¡°What about it?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it have to be¡­¡±

    Addison laughed as she realized the question. ¡°No. The deal doesn¡¯t have to be on top of the summon.¡± And even if it did, they could always walk back out later and spit on each hand over the middle of the crossroads.

    People had such funny notions when they didn¡¯t have inside access to a thing.

    The woman looked over Addison''s shoulder toward the building. Her eyes glazed over for just a moment before her lips parted, opening her mouth once more to speak.

    ¡°There''s details. Let''s go sit and we can talk,¡± Addison offered, gesturing one arm out behind her.

    <hr>

    It took longer for the woman to agree and begin to move than it did for the walk over to the front door. The nose drifted out more often when they were up close, and Addison wondered if this was where they really wanted to be. There had been more silence between them at this point than words, and now they would be surrounded by people.

    The shift in dynamic was strange, and Addison had no idea what it would be like inside, or how the night would end. All those desperate people, so easy to manipulate, and the most important deal had been someone with a conscious. It couldn¡¯t be helped. Standing outside the door was going to be worse than standing over in the middle of the two dirt roads.

    Addison placed her hand on the cool metal plate that sat on the edge of the door and pushed. It was heavier than she had expected it to be and had to lean her full weight before it would open all the way. By the time the door was at the wall, her entire body was inside the bar as well, making room for the woman to walk through. The door slid closed behind them when they moved out of the way.

    It took several moments to work out the protocol, and find themselves a table. They got lucky and found one in a further corner, which gave them some space to talk but let them order a cup of water and a Cosmo.

    A Cosmo seemed exactly the type of drink a woman like that would drink, Addison thought when the purplish glass of liquor arrived. For a few moments, she wondered what she would look like, sitting at a table someday with a fancy cup in her hand. She thought about all the things she had seen and tasted, and what her taste buds might choose when they were allowed to choose such things.

    Her thoughts were cut off abruptly when the woman chose to speak again. ¡°My name is Emily.¡±

    ¡°Addison.¡± If pleasantries were being exchanged then maybe they would help iron out the seams.

    Besides, ¡­it had been quite a while since anyone had cared to introduce themselves in any proper way. She couldn¡¯t remember the last time she had gotten to say her name, much less in a normal greeting type of way.

    The night just kept getting better.

 Part 12

    Two hours later, and Addison was sitting by herself at the table. The woman had gone, leaving a stack full of 20¡¯s and a handshake behind.

    Around the bar, there was one other table with a giggling woman who sat next to a man with a shit-eating grin, and a single waitress cleaning up the rest of the tables and the bar. The staff hadn¡¯t spoken up yet about closing time, but Addison got the impression she would be asked to leave before too much longer.

    Even paying customers could wear out their welcome. And it had been a long day for all parties.

    She took in a deep breath and leaned back against the chair. The night was still in front of her, bar or no, with a long list of possibilities. Would they let her go early? Perhaps spend some time on earth - free from a greedy charge for the first time in her life?

    At the beginning of the excursion she had been hopeful, but now the doubt was creeping into her. With a roll of her eyes that no one else was around to see, she stood up and walked out the door. They had ordered drinks and eaten a snack, and the money on the table would cover all of it. Most likely Addison could have taken some of it with her and not let the waitress short, but she didn¡¯t have it in her. She had used every haggling skill in her arsenal and would need to somehow refill when she was pulled back underground.

    There didn''t seem space in her thoughts for doing math and counting out money, especially since she was lucky any of her parents bothered to teach her such things.

    Addison let out a heavy sigh of frustration as she walked into the cool air. Melodrama had been following her from realm to realm and it was wearing on her. She felt disconnected and young.

    She felt young and foolish, and it frustrated her even worse when she knew she was on the brink of other things. She kept her head down as she walked; watching the ground in front of her and listening for any footsteps or engines in the vicinity.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Listening like it mattered at all.

    Before she could catch wind of even a breeze blowing around her, she was standing at the crossroad ¡ª in the exact same place she had arrived. She squared her shoulders, and closed her eyes, and clenched her teeth when her gut suddenly jumped into her throat.

    A jolt ran through her body, like when she fell in her sleep and woke up with a start.

    ¡°You made the deal,¡± Rikas said.

    The sound hit Addison''s ear at an unfamiliar pitch, high and far too pleased. ¡°She made the deal. I just hung around long enough.¡±

    ¡°No, Girl. You managed to make a deal. You bartered ¡ª a soul for a soul.¡±

    Addison opened her eyes and turned around, her cheeks feeling hot. The implication Rikas made sat heavy in her gut. ¡°I made the deal so I didn¡¯t have to keep doing it. You are the ones that shuffle me around ¡ª that give me tasks and insist I do your dirty work. It''s your job ¡ª do it.¡± The words were out before she could stop them. A situation she seemed to be running into a lot recently.

    ¡°But that''s why we have you.¡± Rikas smiled ear to ear, showing all of his sharp and off-white teeth. The ambient light rocked, swaying a spotlight on the man''s pinkish skin and ruining the illusion he might be human.

    ¡°Until the baby is born. Then you have another, and you can leave me be.¡±

    Rikas laughed.

    He laughed for longer than Addison would have been able to hold her breath, and he laughed until her chest began to tighten in anxiety. The memory of her brief few moments of power relieved her for a few seconds until he finally took a breath and spoke again.

    ¡°It''s so funny that you think you will ever have your way.¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°You are as gloomy as ever.¡±

    Addison opened her eyes and turned her head, glancing over towards the original of the sound. A wisp of a fairy sat on the ground several feet away, head slightly tilted to the side. ¡°How long have you been here?¡±

    ¡°How long have you?¡± the fairy asked. She straightened her neck, pale blue hair now slinking over both shoulders. ¡°I was sent to bring you home.¡±

    There hardly a breath in-between the two thoughts. Addison lifted her gaze back upwards, looking upwards. The canopy of trees covered most of the space above her, with only hints of the sun and sky coming through. From where she sat it looked like the earthen sky. She could pretend she was looking at a blue sky and white clouds, and that the specks of yellow belonged to a hiding sun.

    Gravity kept her on the ground, but it didn¡¯t keep the fairy child from flying upwards and hovering above Addison''s face. ¡°She wants you to come now.¡±

 Part 13

    Addison groaned.

    The last two realm rotations had been taxing. She had truthfully been hoping that the faeries, especially the queen, would be a little understanding. Or at the least a little distracted. Maybe too busy to make her really do very much ¡ª but even here she couldn¡¯t argue or abstain very much. She was the least among them even though she wasn¡¯t always the smallest.

    Instead of making the little fairy do more work, or agitate the queen on her first day back, she rolled over onto her belly and pushed up off the ground. Onto her knees and then onto her feet. She brushed her back off and before she had a chance to turn around, a flutter of wings had brought her escort back to her face.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± she said.

    ¡°Where to?¡± Addison asked. She had never had to wander off before to find someone who wanted to see her.

    ¡°To the queen!¡± the escort chirped.

    Addison couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°Not what I meant, but okay little one. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    If being annoyed didn¡¯t help, she may as well be nice. Earning good favor never hurt anyone, she figured. The fairy gave a tiny nod and wheeled around, forcing Addison to turn around anyway, and they walked forward.

    The spot she liked to hide away and daydream was situated in a clearing between chunks of a forest. One path led to the city with larger clearings, huts, and lights strung about as if the entire city had been made by a child. It was whimsical and beautiful, Addison saw that, but they weren¡¯t going towards the city.

    They were going the opposite direction, into a path that led into the denser forest she had chosen not to wander through. As they entered the tree line she struggled to remember if she had ever been explicitly told not to, or warned of some sort of danger. She couldn¡¯t remember either, but she had never gone this way. She supposed that she didn¡¯t see any of the fey wandering this way either.

    The fairies sometimes flew higher in the city, and some of the other creatures and folk well¡­they either stayed put or scattered. There didn¡¯t seem to be a good reason to be afraid of this part of the world, yet there she was. Walking on a path for the very first time in her life.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    The forest this way was similar enough to feel familiar. The trees towered over her, splitting around the path as if by corralled by magic. It wasn¡¯t a road and there were no stumps along the side; there simply was nothing growing in a line ahead of them. The path was a smooth stretch of dirt that didn¡¯t hold her footsteps.

    Whimsy. The entire realm was made of it. It could be worse, and she could hate it more. At the moment the wonder of where they were headed was winning most of the battles, especially as the path began to wind. It seemed as if the Queen¡¯s headquarters were kept quite a distance away from the main living areas.

    Even in a realm such as this, a Queen must keep her airs about her. She must be regal and hard to read. The path went in a slow curve ¡ª Addison felt like they were going to circle back to where they start at any moment until it began to move the other direction on an incline. They were headed deep within the woods; far enough that they came to a bridge planted in the hillside, and underneath ran a stream.

    It was low to the ground quiet, but the waters ran fast, and far in either direction. Addison didn¡¯t know where it came from or where it went, but the water was intent on getting there asap. She got an inkling in her gut that if she dipped her toes she would find the little stream deeper than the eye let on. Such was the way of this world.

    The sun didn¡¯t move from up above the trees. It stayed round and bright and directly above her head, but she swore they had walked around for hours when the little fairy finally stopped. They had come to a place where the trees thinned and converged again in front of the path.

    ¡°Are we finally taking a break, or are we lost?¡± Addison asked. Her patience was wearing thin and her legs ached. ¡°Where is the queen, again?¡±

    ¡°In her palace,¡± the fairy answered. As if the little thing didn¡¯t understand the question being asked of her.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t her palace in the city though?¡± Addison probed further. She understood why the royal court would be further away, but she wondered why this was the first time she had heard of while being here.

    The little fairy laughed. A spritely sound that bounced off of all the trees and slapped Addison in the face. ¡°That''s only the place she¡¯s let you see before.¡±

    The conversation ended, and the fairy zipped between the trees that were lined up in front of them. Not intending to be left behind, Addison wandered through as well, unsure of what she was going to see.

    On the other side was the biggest clearing she had seen in all her life. In the distant horizon, she could seem more trees that vaguely curved around making a circular shape.

    It was always a circular shape.

    Smack dab in the middle of the grass and flowers stood a tree. It was the largest tree she had ever seen, and bigger than she had ever imagined. It was round and covered in windows and lights and little signs and had a hundred more of the little fairies flying around.

    ¡°Here we are,¡± the little fairy said. ¡°Now you just need to go inside.¡±

    It was easier said than done. As Addison walked closer she saw the real task at hand. The door inside was set at about a dozen feet above the ground.

    Fairies had wings, after all.

 Part 14

    Addison opened her mouth when she reached the base of the tree. The door felt like it may as well be in heaven when she was standing directly underneath it. There was no ladder going up, no hidden staircase. As she began to walk around the extraordinarily thick trunk of the tree, she guessed that there wasn¡¯t a hidden door either.

    She placed a hand on the rough bark, wondering at its texture and the fact that it felt warmer than she had imagined.

    This is the *strangest** realm,* she thought, even I don¡¯t hate it quite so much.

    Nothing was ever quite what she thought it was going to be.

    Almost nothing was what it seemed.

    So cliche, she thought.

    Turning her head away from the hulking plant, she tried to find the fairy that had escorted her through the woods, but there were none that she could see. When she backed up a few feet and looked upward again a few were flying up above her.

    They ranged in sizes and colors and one of them didn¡¯t look like a fairy at all from where she stood. Some of them looked down at her but a single one of them seemed interested in cruising down to talk to her.

    ¡°Some help?¡± she called out anyways. There was always the chance that she merely needed to ask and they would fly down and hoist her to the door. She was expected to arrive, wasn¡¯t she?

    There were several minutes of silence, where Addison didn¡¯t move, and very few of the fey looking down at her did either. She could barely make out their faces and the smallest ones were blurs when their wings took them even a few inches in either direction.

    The quiet descended in from the forest around them, and it was almost easy for her to forget where she was at. The air was cool and the grass underneath her feet was damp in some strange way that didn¡¯t bother her. Every so often an animal would offer its sound from behind the tree line, and the clouds moved up above the creatures and the branches that surrounded them.

    Addison felt her lips relax and a smile tugged at the corners. Just as she thought that maybe things were going to return to normal and she could relax here instead of being tugged through more insanity, the fairies all opened their mouths and spoke at once.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°Figure it out!¡± they yelled. They then erupted into a lasting chorus of raucous laughter ¡ª it was worse than a herd of toddlers, and Addison shook her head, bringing her palms to her ears. The laughter of all of them together pierced her ears; sending a buzzing shock-wave through her senses. It was a brand new experience.

    One she wished she never had and hoped to never repeat. When the buzzing began to fade she pulled her hands, and look upwards once again. The laughter had begun to die down, not long after it had begun, and those above her were scattering back to whatever it was they were supposed to be doing.

    She hoped that their tasks did not actually involve staring and laughing at her try and complete her task.

    It was an easy hope and an easy assumption since very few of them would even glance down at her now. Addison¡¯s shoulders fell with a heavy breath.

    Her heart also fell a little bit lower in her chest. No stairs, no doors, no help from anyone at all. There were no branches low enough for her to grab onto.

    The task felt utterly impossible, and it was sinking her morale in the juxtaposition of the peace she had felt just moments before. Peace of the grass and the breeze and the other trees.

    Peace that maybe just a few other beings in the world may rest beside her and something may go her way, but every illusion broke with time, and she had A Queen waiting on her now. She wanted to lay down on the grass and stare at the sky like she had been doing before she got the summons.

    It was either that or walking into the forest and getting lost for a few hours on some unmarked path. Another heavy sigh left her throat, and Addison felt herself begin to get overwhelmed. She had zero ideas on how to scale the tree. She couldn¡¯t use the bark as handholds; it was old and brittle and while it wasn¡¯t smooth the layers were huge.

    She couldn¡¯t use them to climb, and she figured that trying would lead to some nasty cuts and bruises. She moved closer to the tree, and tugged on the corner of one of the trees many veins to test her theory, and felt it give way towards her.

    It seemed disrespectful to pull until it fell off, but it was enough of a demonstration. She needed another way to get up to the branches, and maybe those would let her get up to the door.

    She didn¡¯t have wings, she would have to pull her self up some other way. Addison began to move her legs again, making a slow circle around the tree. It wouldn¡¯t be a fast circle even if she ran, but she hoped that something would give her an answer.

    Would the Queen give her a truly impossible task? Was it a test she couldn¡¯t complete, or was there a resource she hadn¡¯t thought of?

    Another sigh escaped her. The bark wrapped around every inch of the tree the same, and the roots seemed unforgiving. Even as she was moving in her circle ¡ª nothing was changing. Whatever the answer was¡­ it wasn¡¯t where she was.

 Part 15

    Addison finished a second rotation around the tree, finishing underneath the door that held the queen¡¯s real court.

    Supposedly.

    There was nothing she could find during her time inside the clearing that would help her up. A childish sigh made its way out of her mouth, and she sat down on the ground, leaning her back against the tree trunk. The rough bark poked through the thin cotton of her shirt, and the ground felt damp underneath her. She was uncomfortable.

    It didn¡¯t make sense; why would the grass near the fairy village be cozy, and here it would be harsh? Should the palace clearing be inviting? She had no answers to the questions, and no one was around to give her answers. Noises were filtering down from up above, but it was whispers and muffle wings and the tinkling sounds of fey lamps.

    They weren¡¯t doing anything to help her reach the door. It was aggravating.

    Her head leaned against the bark of the tree. It wasn¡¯t any more comfortable on her skull than it was on her shoulders, but it gave her neck a break. It gave all of her a break.

    Somehow doing nothing at all that day had been mentally and physically taxing. A little lost, her eyes stared out at the tree line in front of her. From the middle of the clearing, she could see the curve. The shape of the thing arose when she looked long enough, even more so as her eyes unfocused with drifting thoughts.

    Addison could see between the trees, darkness and light fighting and leeching space from each other as the sun moved, shadows creeping this way and that. Rustling sounds drifted as animals and fey moved around, going about their daily business.

    After sitting for a few moments, thoughts jumping around from train to train and not guiding her towards finishing her tasks, she watched as a small white rabbit jumped into the clearing. It came halfway between the forest and the great tree she leaned against. She could just make out its features; the little legs it sat on, his little face that must have had a twitching nose as he looked around.

    The rabbit stared at her for a second before scampering around the bend where she couldn¡¯t see anymore. The whole 15-second scene brought a smile to her thoughts, and her eyes focused on the forest again.

    Before another thought could form and get away from her, however, she watched as the tops of a large chunk of trees rustled. She assumed a murder of some type of bird had rolled through, sending leaves and twigs and other loose foliage flying into the air. Her thoughts tried to churn, to start up again when a voice came barreling down from the top of the queen''s tree.

    ¡°Human! Child! Whatever you are; The queen is waiting.¡±

    Addison moved her eyes upwards as far as she could without actually moving the rest of her body, which wasn¡¯t far enough to see whoever had yelled the unnecessary and confusing statement. She liked this place¡­most of the time.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    That day seemed to be the exception, however. Not wanting to incur some sort of wrath, she pushed herself off the ground. The only thing there seemed to be left to do was walk into the forest. She stood, and wiped her legs and back off as to not walk around with too much dirt stuck to her clothing ¡ª and her stomach growled.

    ¡°Perfect,¡± she grumbled.

    There would be berries in the forest if she got desperate, which was where she was going anyways, but it wouldn¡¯t satisfy her. It merely got added to the expanding list of things that were annoying her. Her feet trudged through the damp grass, bringing her closer to the treeline.

    A few minutes and zero events later, she was staring back at a path between the trees. There were no markers to tell her if it was the path that she had taken to walk in.

    There were no markers of any kind save for the tree and the door upon it. She had no idea about anything at all, but she had to start somewhere. So in she walked, feeling the ground underneath here change from lush grass to compacted dirt and forest floor. It was less pleasant, but also dryer and more familiar.

    Taking a deep breath in, she looked around the path. She wasn¡¯t sure what she was expecting, but she was mildly disappointed. The berry bushes didn¡¯t seem to grow in this part of the woods, and the other trees didn¡¯t immediately give hints about how to tackle the big one; so she kept moving.

    She moved along the path. Her toes curled around roots that had gone toward the surface of the earth instead of digging down into it. They landed on leaves in varying stages of the life cycle. Some crunching, and some green and cool, and some mushy underneath them both. Time moved so strangely here in the Fey realm. Sometimes it felt like it was all seasons all at once; other times it was like summer sat for a year or two at a time.

    She could never get a grip on it, and sometimes she wondered if that wasn¡¯t the point. This Earth had a mind of its own, and when her toes caught underneath something instead of over it, she thought its mind just wanted to screw with her that day. She went flying forward, unable to control her body well enough to keep her balance.

    The thing that her foot had slid over came with her partially, pulling one leg down to the ground faster than the rest of her body. Her knee hit the dirt path a few seconds before the other, forcing air out of her chest. She saw stars even as she closed her eyes, and her hands stretched to wrap around her knee as she tried to turn on her side.

    In her attempts to protect her wound, she caught her ankle up further in the trap that had caught her, putting pressure on a second part of her body. It forced her to open her eyes to try and see what had tripped her, to begin with. It a moment to see clearly as her eyes welled with tears, but once she had blinked them out of her vision, she saw it.

    A thick rope of green vine; it had caught some of the other foliage, but the shape of it was what had her attention. It looked exactly like a rope ¡ª the only thing like it she had seen on her walks through the land. Her thoughts were fragmented as she tried to shift her knee, getting comfortable would take a little while, much less standing and moving around. But her eyes remained frozen on the vine.

    If a thing like that could wrap around her ankle, maybe it could wrap around other things as well. She didn¡¯t think herself an expert on making pullies or reconfiguring vines to make a proper rope, but the idea was planted in her head. Sitting up and leaning over as softly as she could, Addison moved her hands from her knee down to her ankle. She twisted and pulled; grimacing as it put pressure on her new injury.

    The pain was real and was going to make everything more difficult, but her ankle came free without much more difficulty. It has only slid underneath.

    A small miracle.

    With both of her feet free and pulled closer to her, she looked to both sides of the path. If the thing was going to be of any use to her¡­She had to figure out how long it was.

 Part 16

    Addison pushed one hand against the ground to rotate her weight to the opposite side and stand up. Her weight was primarily leaning on the uninjured leg, but she knew she would have to test the weight eventually ¡ª and deal with it regardless of the severity. It wasn¡¯t exactly she could spend a few days in the woods because she had taken a tumble.

    She liked to think the queen would eventually send someone, or another of the fey would stumble upon her. But she was at a point in her life that she couldn¡¯t promise it. That meant relying more on herself.

    Even if it hurt.

    With a deep breath, she even out her weight, and flinched. It didn¡¯t feel good ¡ª but closer to a bruise than a broken bone, and she needed to be thankful for small victories. She hopped backward with one foot, and immediately regretted it. Her thoughts had decided it would be the easiest option to step forward and test her weight, when in reality it should have caused a new fall backward, giving her another spot to heal later.

    She got lucky time though, and when she caught her breath and thought out her next few steps a little more rationally, she stepped forward again. She flinched, again, but her leg continued to hold her weight, which was all she needed to know. With a small nod to herself, she focused her attention on the vine.

    It was thick indeed, would probably take both her hands to move it. She would also need it to be long enough to throw over one of the branches, but not so long that she couldn¡¯t manage to pull it out of the woods; especially with a limp.

    On either side of her path was trees, and the thing seemed to extend both directions. She knew it could be her ticket to the door. She didn¡¯t know how to access its usefulness. Her lips pulled to one side of her face, and she wonderer ed if she didn¡¯t need to just pick a direction.

    Move to one side and see if she could find where it met the ground or a weak place to begin pulling it apart. If she could grasp onto a thread or two instead of the entire thing at once, she might have better luck. Without any tools, however, there seemed to be a thousand variables in her way.

    Neither side looked much more promising, but light was filtering in heavy toward her right. Light was valuable, and darkness meant more work for her, so she turned on one heel and began to limp that way, keeping her feet close to the vine/lifeline.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    One heavy footstep followed by one light as she made her way off the path and between the trees. The vine didn¡¯t weave or move up and down the wildlife. It was almost as if the trees and bushes had found ways around it, instead.

    It was bright green except for the brown leaves and dead grass. Green meant harder to cut, but sturdier and better weight baring. Every detail seemed to tip the scales both ways, she thought as she continued her limping stroll.

    She passed a rabbit that was running in the other direction, and a bush that had berries so ripe they were falling off of it. She passed a gigantic tree that she would call an oak if anyone asked, and a tiny sapling that couldn¡¯t have been more than a few months old ¡ª even by fey time.

    Her thoughts were fragmented, wanting to stop and take time on every little thing, but she forced herself to stay focused. Her hunger wouldn¡¯t kill her ¡ª if she could complete her task and get on with her life. So she tore her eyes away from the forest and stared at the vine and the ground around it.

    She watched her feet kick up tiny amounts of dust, and listened as the forest went on living around her. A scuttle would pass by, and her eyes would jerk forward. She would need to remind herself to look forward; she had a goal and if she got too distracted she would have to wander through the forest. When she looked back, she realized that the ground in front of her was baren.

    It was still the forest, but her lifeline had disappeared.

    Her heart thumped against her chest and stopped for a brief second. The sensation caught her breath in her throat, and the panic rose like bile; fast and out of her control. Her chest heaved and she turned around, nearly losing her breakfast before her eyes spotted the thing.

    She hadn¡¯t lost it, which meant she hadn¡¯t gotten lost. She had simply walked right past the end. It did wrap around a tree, about two feet and to the left from where she stopped. A lump sat in her throat despite the fact that nothing had changed, and a sound left her mouth.

    Addison didn¡¯t have a word for the sound, but she didn¡¯t spend long trying to figure it out. The vine only stopped halfway up the tree ¡ª she had found the end.

    Limping forward she reached her hand out, gently touching the living things she would soon kill to be her tools. Her fingers ran over the tendrils of the vine, then moved to the rough bark of the tree. It felt like the bark of the queen''s tree, but on a much smaller scale. The pieces were closer together, the branches lower to the ground. It was every day, regular tree, with a green vine climbing upward to find the sun.

    She pulled herself up onto her tiptoes, her teeth clenching together as her wounded knee yelled at her. Getting as tall as she could get, the fingernail of her middle finger reached the tip of the vine. She hooked her finger a few degrees, and let her arm drop just a little.

    Let gravity do a little bit of the work.

    Her arm fell away with nothing to hold it upright. Her shoulder burned and her legs were getting tired. But when she looked back up, she saw all the progress she needed at that moment. The vine had pulled away from the tree by a half an inch.

 Part 17

    Addison was panting, sweat rolling down her temples. Her hair insisted on crawling across her forehead, and she wished she had a hair-tie to get it away from her skin. She swore that it was cold, should have been cold anyways.

    Hadn¡¯t she wished for more sunlight when she sat against the queen''s gigantic tree or was that a fever dream?

    The last bit of vine pulled off the roots of the tree, and a few of her thoughts returned to reality. She looked down at the job in front of her; her knee was on fire, and her arms ached, and although she had gotten an okay length away from the safety of its home, she still needed a way to take it apart.

    Even though one cut trumped two, she was at zero ways to accomplish it. Rather than kneel and try to tear apart the living thing with her hands, which she knew she wouldn''t have the tenacity to do, she took a step back and sat down. The vine had begun its journey toward her so easily and gotten more difficult with every inch. The roots had been given more time to grow, and attach, and strengthen.

    Meanwhile, she got weaker every-time her fingernail plunged. With a gasping breath, she laid down on the forest floor, cursing the fairies and their friends and their entire damned world. Her eyes focused on the treetops above her as her hands settled behind her skull. As hard as the bones were, it was better than bark and spur.

    It would have been better had she not found the long edge of a rock that was jutting into her shoulder blade. She squirmed, hoping she may find comfort but to no avail. Now that she had become aware of the object, it was all she could think about. It did seem par for the course; shitty errands, dirty caves, sharp rocks. No realm gave her total solace.

    ¡°The human condition, aye?¡± she asked the silence and sat up to look at the ground where she had been.

    She hadn¡¯t looked originally. Had she, she would have seen the jagged thing staring at her, and she would have been more scared of a nice cut than a lump resting spot.

    Addison blinked at the rock. Not sure what she had in mind, she reached out and let a finger glide across the top. It looked sharper than it was. It was no blade.

    She leaned forward a few degrees so that she could attempt to pull at the thing. Some of it was buried under the dirt, so she gripped one hand on each side. With the little energy she replenished so far she yanked, and for her efforts, she fell backward. ¡®

    No digging was required, and it wasn¡¯t all that hefty, so her weight worked against her.

    Of course, she thought, letting a sigh come out through a clenched jaw.

    The rock lay in her hands on her gut and was pressed with an uncomfortable ledge as she rolled over and got on her knees again. She could feel the damp dirt touching most of her back, covering the legs of her jeans, and her stomach was grumbling even louder than before.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Ready to be done with this was a severe understatement.

    Forcing her limbs to stop being awkward and unwieldy, she pulled her rock over to the vine and settled in. Light as it was, she lifted it above her head, and ignoring her screaming muscles, she focused all her energy and swung down onto the vine.

    As the rock hit the ground, it reverberated and sent a small shock-wave back up her arms and into her shoulders, pulling a low grunt from her chest. She tried to blink away the sensation for a moment and looked down at her handiwork.

    Lifting the rock, she saw the vine ¡ª mostly intact. There was an indent where the rock had come into contact and the tiniest hint that it had done damage. Without another thought Addison brought it down again, grimacing as the shock wave came, and lifting the rock once more.

    The second time didn¡¯t fare much better than the first. Most of the thoughts she had at that moment were childish. There was no one to help her, no one to complain to, and none of the rest she had hoped for after her last few realm hops.

    Her thoughts repeated endlessly. She couldn¡¯t go back ¡ª couldn¡¯t change anything, couldn¡¯t do anything but get the damn vine and get up the tree.

    She brought the rock into her lap, running her hand across the sharper edge. The point that had brought it to her attention.

    Maybe it was more like a blade than an Axe.

    With more motions than she counted, and her muscles and injuries screaming out to her, Addison managed to get a section of the vine free of its main body. Her fingers were numb, and they moved through molasses as she pulled apart its tendrils. There was something about the craft that may have been satisfying and relaxing if done in the sun or in front of a hearth. But in the cold with the sun running away, and no food inside her to give energy or comfort, it was miserable.

    It went on for an eternity. By the time she had made her very first rope, or something that resembled one, she swore it had been days and she could barely see straight.

    ¡°The queen is waiting,¡± she mumbled and began to trace her way back to the path with a heavy limp and the rope sitting like an anchor on her shoulder. Her neck felt sun-burnt, and she realized that every inch of her felt wrong. If she was going to start complaining she would never stop. Her feet found the trodden dirt path, and she turned.

    Aware of the vine and the damage it already did to one leg, she stepped more carefully near it the second time around. Soles of her feet slammed into the ground, her delicacy depleted.

    By the time she arrived at the tree again, the whimsy of the world around her was lost on her, grating and punishment, and the sun had confirmed its disinterest in helping her succeed. She didn¡¯t feel herself, she admitted. Not that it mattered...

    She looked up at the branch, a few feet in front and many feet above her, and saw half a dozen fairies looking down at her. They wore curious and lazy faces, and it seemed fitting. It was the perfect face for a fairy to wear; big or small, part of the court or the cousins of the queen that barely fit the name. All of them looked at her ¡ª curious and lazy.

    She pulled the vine off of her shoulder and squared herself. Unsure if she had the stamina for more, she aimed to get the thing over in a single throw. Her arms swung back, and then they swung over, and she closed her eyes and forced them to follow through. One hand let go, while the other held tight enough to slide down the thing, catching it just before it slid away from her.

    Everything went in slow motion; like a moving picture shown underwater. But when she heard a humming, far away laughter, time returned to normal.

    Addison opened her eyes and saw the fey had gathered around her vine, giggling in amusement.

    ¡°You only had to ask for help. The queen¡¯s been waiting so long you know.¡±

 Part 18

    A vein in her temple pulsed. She could feel every beat of her heart through it, and as her jaw clenched in pent up frustration, she felt her throat begin to thump as well. Everywhere the beat was strong enough, she felt her tired muscle beat and scream.

    ¡°I did, you tiny winged freaks,¡± she screamed. The smiles on the faces of the creatures around her widened as if her reaction to the joke was an even better punchline for them all, and it fueled her temper. ¡°And now that I have dug my fingernails down to stubs and cracked my knee and twisted my ankle and can¡¯t see straight, you are telling me you would have helped me all along?¡±

    Addison took a deep breath, eyes moving rapidly between the two larger fay who had drifted down towards her. Her chest heaved as her lungs filled with air, and her words roared out of her raw throat. ¡°You ordered me here!¡±

    There was a chorus of chittering laughter in the tree as each of her arms was wrapped up by a pale winged fairy. Her muscles twitched, and her frustration at every inch of the world caused her to fight against those holding her.

    She felt eyes on her, and she could hear the laughter coming down. Her feet left the ground, and with no intention, her legs began kicking. Her living elevator did not let go, but the others began to drift away and quiet down.

    The air around her went quiet, but her mind didn¡¯t. It seemed as if years of biting her tongue as much as she could caught up, and her thoughts raged inside her ears. It went on until her head began to swim, forcing the thoughts to quiet before it made her puke.

    ¡°Addison.¡± A whisper moved across her cheeks and landed in her ears warm and soft.

    She opened her eyes not a moment later, face to face with the Queen. The fairies holding her arms pushed her forward, letting go of her without any notice.

    Her legs gave way, and her knees slapped the bumpy wood of the tree, and when she looked up again, she saw a wide, amused, smile on the noble fairy''s face.

    It made Addison angrier.

    ¡°Addi,¡± the warble came again, mixed with the fluttering of wings back the way they had entered.

    The pair was being left alone; an important meeting after all. Perhaps it hadn¡¯t all been useless tests ¡ª maybe, just maybe, there was something in all the realms that had some sort of plan. Addison¡¯s heart leaped back and forth between her throat and her stomach, unsure where to store the surge of emotions. She was having difficulty letting them go; there was a build-up her bile from all the times she had bit her tongue.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Not perfectly, she admitted. The snark escaped her, but she also knew how to stay alive when surrounded by beguiling supernatural freaks. A deep breath filled her chest, and she met the queen''s gaze.

    ¡°We have been at work since you last left us, and we need to talk.¡± The slender, almost woman looking queen turned and walked into the home.

    As Addison stood, and let herself look around at the goal of the long days work, she couldn''t help but wonder if it was bigger on the inside than it had seemed. Once she passed the threshold of the wooden arch, the door swung closed behind her of its own accord. Just inside this entrance was a very large room.

    She had no issue comparing it to the rooms of the palace that sat in the middle of the forest village, yet it sat in a hut on top of a tree, regardless of how large the tree may be. It was not¡­

    Shaking her head, she focused on trying to keep up with her newest escort. They walked out of the entryway and through several doors before they reached a perfectly round room, that for some reason, Addison guessed was the middle of the thing. There was a large pane of glass on the ceiling, also round and showing mostly tree branches - a smothering of white clouds as well.

    ¡°It has been many years between us, Addy.¡±

    The words buzzed into her ears, sounding strange as always. There was never a real concreteness to her conversations with the fay leader, her strangest parent and her favorite guardian. Matilda held the most in common, and even now she wished that the one that was her kind was, well, kinder.

    She shook her head to snap her thoughts back to reality. ¡°My whole life.¡± Her feet were rooted in place as she watched the queen moved around the room. It seemed for a moment that she was pacing before she finally settled into a highbacked chair inside the inner circle of the room.

    One long arm gestured towards a similar piece of furniture a few feet away from it.

    Blinking, Addison couldn¡¯t make her mind bring the memory of those chairs when they first walked in the room, yet there they were.

    Magic, I¡¯m sure. Everywhere I look is magic and fairies and dust-

    ¡°Sit.¡±

    Her thoughts vaporized as her feet became unrooted; they woke up and had a mind of their own, walking over to the chair, and she felt her body sit down. All the anger she had felt washed away and she melted into the softness of the chair, even as she tried to hang onto it. The fairies had proven that they had no more respect than the other realms did, but she couldn¡¯t keep it, especially as her eyes locked with the queens.

    ¡°Your whole life. That''s right.¡±

    There was a silence in the room for a moment, like when you walked outside in the middle of the night, or snow has fallen and no one has bothered to destroy it yet. Calmness. Stillness.

    ¡°Your whole human life so far, and yet you don¡¯t know my name,¡± the queen continued.

    The statement felt¡­ out of place, even fr this whole scene around them.

    ¡°As I said,¡± she went on, ¡°I have been busy. I brought you here becuase I have finished preparing, I have made my desires a reality, and I want to extend you an invitation. I would like to make you a deal.¡±

    The queen took a breath, and in that instant, Addison heard her voice shouting out.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    And with that one word, everything changed.

 Part 19

    The edges of Addisons vision went gray as she watched the Queen smile. Her lips felt a little bit numb, and she couldn¡¯t move them after uttering such a quick answer¡­

    Well, to a question that hadn¡¯t even spilled out yet.

    The softness of the chair felt like it was eating her up, and even though exhaustion was probably playing a large part she kept coming back to the magic of the realm. The magic of every realm, the magic that followed her around and pushed her to the brink, instead of helping and guiding it her like all of her guardians insisted it should.

    Guide her or be used by her, yet she seemed to do neither.

    She could only be pushed, and watch the regal, beautiful, slightly fuzzy and puzzle ridden queen of the fairies and ruler of her realm. The womanly creature opened her perfectly pink lips and spoke, some enhancing Addison''s haze.

    The gray edges made her eyes feel heavy, and the usually buzzing sound of the queen became sharp, speaking directly into her ears, her mind, her soul.

    ¡°Things are changing, Addison,¡± the regal fairy said. ¡°I have things to tell you, and you have more decisions to make.¡±

    Addison closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She felt her head not just a little, and her inhale came sharper, eyes snapping open to pay attention during this important meeting. She wasn¡¯t sure how the realm would handle her agreement to the deal if she fell asleep at that moment. Before any words formed for her to speak, she was listening again.

    ¡°I want to start us at the basics. My true name is Tanaquill, and, of course, I¡¯ve been watching you.¡±

    Tanaquill, Addison thought as she listened to the speech move on. Of course. How disturbingly perfect. She felt a smile crawling across her face, slow enough that she very well could have imagined it happening.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    ¡°I have been watching you,¡± Tanaquill continued, unreacting to Addison at all. ¡°And those who you deal with, and I am not the only one. While you were away, I was making deals of my own, sweet Addison. I was making promises and calling in ancient favors. When you came back home, I tasked you. I invited you to this place you have never been, but you had to earn it.¡±

    The queen stood as if the speech was already making her restless. Her feet made no sound against the wooden floors, but there was a faint rustling sound as she moved. ¡°You had to find your way up. You had to learn the way of my people, and all those who share this realm, and even those who come and visit. I needed more time, but you had to complete the task. It was the only way for us to know you were ready for what I had to offer. We¡¯ve been watching, and we have pooled our power to make you this offer.¡±

    Addisons head rolled forward again, and she snapped to attention just as the queen paused. The words were filtering in, but when they got back around to the deal that she had already greedily accepted, she thought maybe she should try a little harder to participate.

    ¡°The deal will set you on a path my little one. A dangerous path that I can not protect you on. A path that I had hoped to shield you from. I bought you from your mother to have to here by my side, and this will take you away, and I can not promise for how long. If you truly accept after hearing what comes next, I will take you to begin immediately.¡±

    The queen continued to pace, unable or unwilling to sit back down and hold the conversation face to face. So Addison gave her head a little shake and finally forced words up and out of her throat. ¡°Please. Continue.¡±

    The rustling sound got feverish, and Tanaquill spoke again. ¡°You will be sent to each Realm, on a path you must choose to go down. You must find the thing that binds you to that place. It will be your greatest temptation, a piece of your heart, a string that ties you to anyone there that you love. It may be difficult to find, and you may not return until you have. But sweet Addison, if you find all three..¡±

    Another pause and the queen stopped pacing, looking at her daughter with a paler face than ever. ¡°If you find all three and bring them back to me. I can cut those binds, and you can choose your resting place with no consequence.¡±

    Addison shook her head again. Her thoughts were buzzing, wondering if she should take some time. Her eyes were still heavy and she wasn¡¯t one hundred percent convinced she wasn¡¯t already dreaming. But dreams, or magic, or lies, she couldn¡¯t hold her tongue. For the second time without asking a single question, or taking more than a moment to decide, she answered.

    ¡°Yes. Please.¡±

 Part 20

    Addison''s eyes closed, and as they did, she knew that she had lost her fight against sleep. It had been coming since the moment she sat down in the Queen''s strange palace in the tree.

    They had bobbed up and down while she listened, and now they were telling her they no longer had any reason to stay open. She was so tired, and so heavy, and so relieved that there may be an ending to the constant flinging across realms. Her thoughts swirled as the rest of her body gave way to the slumber. She thought about what the queen had told her the last time she''d been in the faerie realm.

    The fact that she would get to choose someday, anyway. If she could just make it a couple more years, no matter what, she''d get to pick.

    Words swirled around her brain, and in her ears.

    "Without consequence," warbled in and out.

    Would there be consequences when she chose at her given time?

    She had no way of knowing. No way of guessing. She tried to open her mouth to ask, but her jaw was sewn shut and she couldn''t find her tongue. So tired, so heavy, so warm and content.

    Within the next breath, Addison was fast asleep, sitting right here in that chair.

    <hr>

    "Addison."

    Her eyes fluttered, closing tight when a thin line of light flooded in.

    The words came again, a soft hissing sound that floated somewhere nearby, exaggerating the soft sounds. "Aaddisoon."

    It annoyed her. That wasn''t her name, she wasn''t some child or puppy that responded to tone of voice or hand waving. She was old enough to be put to work and sent through trials; she was old enough to have earned a proper name.

    "Addy."

    She fluttered her eyes once more. She was groggy and still heavy. The word was losing meaning to her the more she thought it, but there was no other way to describe her iron limbs and anchored joints. The light was bright, but hurt less each time she glanced at it. With a low groan, she opened her eyes one last time and forced herself to look at the earth in front of her.

    It was lush and green. The sun was shining down from up above, at an angle, she didn''t understand at first. The trees were all around her, standing tall and apart from each other, and as she looked from the treetops down to the grass once more she understood the confusion. She had woken up while standing, which made no sense at all.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Her lips pushed against each other as she searched for ways to ask the questions that nagged at her.

    "Addison," the voice said. The queen''s strange voice that defied any consistent description. "Its time to get started."

    Get started, Addison thought. She licked her lips, glad that her body was listening to her now. It had felt like an eternity of strange sleep. Parts felt like a dream where other parts simply felt like benign sleep paralysis. No monsters on her chest, but no way for her to move or interact. It hadn''t felt very comforting still. But now, at least, she was awake. Really awake with no rainbow dragons flying around her body, and no invisible chains holding her down in a black abyss.

    "It''s time for you to find the first door," the queen said.

    "Find?" The words came out of her mouth and hit her ears like a freight train. How long had it been since she had spoken? An hour? A year? She couldn''t tell, because both the motion and the sound felt foreign. It felt like she was listening to someone else mimic her, yet she had felt her own muscles move. She recognized her voice, but something disconnected it from her body.

    Everything was wrong. She shook her head while waiting for an answer, hoping some grogginess would come away.

    "Yes, my little one. You must find all 3 doors on your own. Once you take your first step, I must leave you. It''s the terms of the arrangement."

    Addison looked down at her feet. They gave her no answers, but she already knew she didn''t really want to move them. She was having doubts about the entire situation and wondered if she should have asked more questions.

    I took a deal with the queen of tricks. Of course, I should have asked more questions.

    Anger and youth had decided for her before the doubting part of her mind had been given a chance to take part. She felt more than a little stupid, but it didn''t matter. There were no other choices to be had, and she would never admit her doubt out loud.

    "Where are the doors?" she asked.

    The queen laughed. It seemed to last forever, getting louder before eventually subduing as the faerie gasped for breath. It seemed out of character, so human ¡ª so childish. Addison supposed that those in the faerie realm had a grand and strange sense of humor, but she couldn''t say she had ever heard laughter like that before.

    After the queen had finally caught her breath and calmed down, she moved in front of Addison and seemed to compose herself. She looked like she always did, with giant wings and glimmering eyes. But her shadow seemed much bigger like it was looking around them and soaking up something in the air. "I can''t tell you that. I can tell you there is one in this realm. You must start in the forest and find the clues yourself. From there..." The queen paused.

    She looked around them, and then looked back at Addison, making eye contact that felt like a laser. "You must follow your path. Once you take that first step, it is on you. The first step starts the journey, and it won''t end until it ends. When you finish, you will find yourself with me again. I will take you to the higher court."

    "Court?" Addison asked, raising an eyebrow.

    The queen shook her head. "No no, little one. Let''s not go there now. You must focus on the path ahead of you now. And you will need your energy." She smiled, her lips forming a lengthy line that curved up high.

    Addison shook her head as if she was mirroring, but she couldn''t wrap her around anything. She wasn''t sure that she would be able to, so instead she took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She intended to focus on the end of the path. She needed to focus on finishing and getting out of the nightmare that had been her life.

 Part 21

    She lifted one foot, pressing her lips together and keeping her head down, and moved it forward and let it fall to the ground. It made no sound as it collided with the dirt and fallen green leaves and vines and had been too close to the ground to send a shock wave up through her injured knee. Once the foot settled, she looked up.

    Addison expected nothing. She had taken a step, but either this was all still a dream, or surely there would be someone standing by laughing at her gullibility. Yet there was no laughter, and when she looked for the fairy queen; the royal trickstress was gone. No one around at all, it seemed. She was on her own, just like she was told she would be.

    It didn''t really make her feel any better, especially since she wasn''t sure what she was looking for; or how to go about looking for it. Not that far from when she was told to find her own way up the giant forsaken tree, and even fewer options to help achieve the goal. With no decision left but to go forward, she did.

    Her other foot lifted and joined its twin.

    The forest loomed around her. Distant sounds of something birdlike, and a breeze that she couldn¡¯t feel ¡ª only see and heard among the branches. Life in the realm was continuing as normal, only disturbed by Addison, and the door she was supposed to find. There had been no information on how long it might take, or what she was supposed to do if it took her far too long. But it shouldn''t have been surprising. As comfortable as the realm had been compared to the others, she had always been given small reminders that they had traded for her for a reason, and it wasn''t to save her. This was her way out, but it was not a gift.

    No way but forward and out, she thought, and forced the fog out of her mind. It wouldn''t do any good for her to stand around and debate the merits of decisions she had already made, and paths she hadn''t gotten to yet. What mattered was that she moved, and so she did.

    She walked, and it didn''t take long to fall into a rhythm. Her eyes scanned around as she moved forward, hoping they missed nothing along the way. There was nothing out of the ordinary for the first little while.

    No obvious clues, marked trees, or glowing paths. No fancy birds that looked ready to take her to her destination. No fantasy here, although she walked among a fantastical realm. The Fae could be boring, and usually at the worst times. It seemed as though she would have to scour the forest to find some type of door.

    She pictured it as she moved, amused at the image of a giant steel gate in the middle of the forest. Or maybe it would be pale wood, with a frame and window in the middle. Standing there between the trees, maybe a mass of the thick vines that crossed around the floors and wrapped around the trees beside her.

    It would have a dark metal doorknob, tightly secured for eternity, because what else was magic for?

    The image came in clearer with every step ¡ª each tree that passed her on the left, and each hidden thing that rustled on her right, she saw more details. The stained glass in the mirror would look like a blackened cauldron, too heavy for her to hold, and the colors would drip red and black. A collective thing of all the realms that stole her time and childhood away from her.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Addison smiled. The loneliness here felt better than she had expected it to. No demons laughing at her fragility, no old hag ordering her around, no Fae playing tricks. On the path that was flattening out underneath her, there were no demands other than her survival, and that was entirely up to her. With so little directions, she wondered for a moment if she actually would survive the trial at hand.

    The question came and went round and round her head. Will I find the door before I starve to death?

    Melodramatic, which is what drove it away each time, but she couldn''t help its return every minute or so.

    Just about the time her muscles ached, she came to something unexpected, and entirely on accident. The ground beneath her was beaten down into a dirt path, not even leaves landed on it as far as she could see. Several feet ahead of her, however, the path got even weirder, and it did something she''d never seen in the forest of that realm. It split into two perfectly level paths, each identical to the others and replicas of where she had come from.

    The only thing that changed, as far as she could see, was the angles of the trees that arched over each piece of the fork. One was thin, with a handful of hidden flowers near the top, and the other was rounded at the bottom, and curved inward as it rose. It was a strange shape, almost like an upside cup, but when she blinked, the shape had disappeared.

    There were two paths, and no sign that told her which to take. Which would lead to a door? And where would that door go? Addison took a deep breath and forced herself to toward the right, the image of the cup stuck in her mind.

    Almost like a goblet, placed upside down to dry.

    Doubt swarmed, but any other choice would lead into dense and viney forest, where magic grew in a different direction and wasn''t likely to help her. Once she was past the arch and on her way to... somewhere, the doubt flooded back out of her thoughts, and she went back to envisioning the door. She pictured a swirl, somewhere in the middle.

    Maybe on the opposite side of the doorknob, as if the wood split in half and one side got lonely. It created a shadow of the doorknob as if to trick someone someday. She laughed; the only nearby sound she heard since the queen had disappeared. It sounded strange, but she didn''t mind hearing herself as much as she did most days. Rather than cringe at the sound of her own voice and childish laughter, she forced it out again.

    "Ha! Haha!" she said, and real giggles followed. Her spirits were soaring, and again it didn''t bother her. She couldn''t pinpoint a reason, but it didn''t matter. She felt good.

    She could only hope that it would last awhile, rather than leaving as soon as it came.

    Shaking her head at her own silliness and rolling her shoulders for a brief stretch, she paused. She arched her back, and let her neck to fall to one side, then the other.

    When she felt a little more limber, she returned to her walk that had an unknown destination and noticed that the path was curving further into the forest, taking her farther away from the other fork in the road. It curved harshly, and for a moment she couldn''t see beyond a foot in front of her. When it finally straightened out again, Addison gulped, trying to get rid of a sudden lump in her throat. There, in the middle of the path, was a door, and she had almost walked into it. It was the exact size and shape of the one she had pictured as she walked.

    Her hand shook, unable to decide if the familiarity was comforting or terrifying.

 Part 22

    The two were too mingled for her to name one or the other. But there was no other option for her, as far as Addison could tell. The way forward out of her messy life was through that door. There was a part of her convinced that if she tried to backwards, some fairy would block her way.

    She had made a deal and was required to keep her end of it. The only hope was that it would as easy as finding the first door had been. With her mind made up, and nowhere else to go, she reached her hand out and turned the knob.

    She closed her eyes and stepped forward without so much as looking at the other side. Her feet met with the ground for a couple of steps, one foot felt a ridge, and then she felt her gut drop to its lower limit.

    A breeze flew past her face.

    Fear attached itself still, making her too afraid to open her eyes and see what she has just done to herself. As if the deal was the ultimate trick; not one that saved her, but one that doomed her to some hell she couldn¡¯t escape. And after her last visit with the demons ¡ª it seemed within the realm of possibilities.

    Screw the witch and the fairies and the soul contracts. She would spend the rest of her dumb, short little life in a fiery cell to be laughed at. Jaw clenched tightly, she took in a deep, shaky breath.

    Addison''s feet clipped something hard, and not even a second later her body slammed into the ground, forcing the breath out of her lungs so fast it hurt.

    Everything hurt after she landed. Everything all and once and she wasn¡¯t sure for a second if she had survived it ¡ª that was until she opened her eyes and found herself not in heaven or hell. She wasn¡¯t in a cage or a cloud.

    She was in a forest.

    A forest that looked far too similar to the one she had just come from, and with no impulse control left to her waking self, she screamed. As the sound came out the surrounding birds flew out of the trees, and a second later there was a returning yell from a voice she didn¡¯t recognize. It wasn¡¯t crackly or waspy or heavy, which were the only attributes she gave to those that flew around The Queen.

    She had fallen from forest to forest and into another realm. If everything she had been told was the truth, and she was awake and alive¡­ She was on earth. Regular human earth.

    Despite the pain and lack of clues around her, she smiled, and the vision of a hellfire prison faded.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°¡­Lo!¡± the voice that had echoed her scream drifted through the surrounding trees.

    Addison took a normal, uninterrupted breath in ¡ª exhaling it with ease and without pain, an action worth keeping her content smile, and stood. Her ankles and back protested quietly.

    As if she had been tucked into a ball for a night.

    Or landed hard on her feet somehow, she thought as she dusted off her legs, and tried to wipe off her back the best she could.

    ¡°Anyone there?¡± the voice came again. Much closer this time, much clearer.

    Addison tilted her head, feeling a very vague feeling of familiarity. Her gut fought with the feeling, however, sending its waves of anxiety. People meant help, but they could also mean questions, and if the wrong people walked up to a vulnerable no-name alone in the forest, they could mean trouble.

    The questioning voice sounded confused, feminine. Making the war inside her even more difficult.

    To decide about something, she shifted her weight and did another sweep of her surroundings, eyes trying to touch every tree and every twig that littered the ground. Although the foliage was no denser than the old she had come from, there was no clear path. Not in front of her or any other direction.

    There was nothing to direct her which way to take, and no direction that looked any easier to run in case her nervous voice got any louder; which it did as soon as something rustled to her side, just out of eyesight.

    Frustration mounted, and a third decision was made. She would neither wait, nor not, but invited whoever the hell it was to her, and find her way to town even if it killed her.

    ¡°Hello,¡± Addison said, her voice shaky. She realized after the fact that her hand had waved above her head, even though the person she was responding to was unlikely to see it at all. She cleared her throat and tried again as it dropped. ¡°Over here!¡±

    Less shaky. A little louder. They didn¡¯t sound like her, but she couldn¡¯t pinpoint why.

    The rustling came again, closer this time until she could see the leaves and trees shift directly to her right. She flinched, still half-expecting someone to charge. Or worse.

    What emerged was a slender frame with a long brown ponytail that was attached to a very familiar face ¡ª one that she never expected to be out in the wilderness so casually. ¡°I heard a scream, are you ¡ª ¡±

    Lori cut off as her eyes grew widened. She had recognition written all over the face; it looked exactly the same as it did when she cut the middle of her greetings, every time that Addison entered the shop.

    Addison rolled her eyes. ¡°I fell.¡±

    Lori crossed her arms over her chest, looking even ruder than usual. At least the shop counter hid half of her body language. One eyebrow rose. ¡°Where exactly did you fall from? Were you following me out here? Trying to get to my stash so you didn¡¯t have to pay me?¡±

    The words cut. The last time she had gone to the store, Addison had even felt like they had shared a small moment, and otherwise, she did her best to remain level. Apparently, it hadn¡¯t mattered for much. ¡°I fell from¡­¡± she hesitated. It wasn¡¯t like she could easily explain her living arrangements. ¡°Stash? Don''t you get deliveries¡±

    Lori¡¯s face contorted further, her eyes darting to one side before coming back as if they hadn¡¯t moved. Silence sat between them. Like either wanted to give up the secret first.

 Part 23

    Silence sat. It felt like an eternity, but Addison knew her impatience only lasted a few moments in most situations.

    ¡°Whatever.¡± She shrugged a shoulder and forced her eyes away from the woman. Her relationship with the village had been tenuous her whole life no thanks to the witch and Addison''s constant disappearing act. But Lori being near meant that the Village couldn¡¯t be that far off, and she could get there and start her journey.

    She doubted Matilda would be too upset by her sudden appearance, given extra hands meant extra chores. ¡°Can you just point me towards the road? Or do I have to pay for that too?¡±

    Lori tilted her head. ¡°What?¡± Her face contorted even more than it had been, brow furrowed as deep as it would go. ¡°Did you hit your head when you fell?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Addison clipped the rest of the sentence which would have been an explanation she didn¡¯t owe anyone. ¡°But I am turned around. I could just follow you around if that was better.¡±

    She had already spent too much time digging around in forests to last her a lifetime and didn¡¯t have any interest in another day of wandering just to appease someone who looked at her sideways every given chance.

    Lori shook her head. ¡°Okay, fine.¡± The exasperation filled words preceded several steps, and the two women stood side by side. ¡°You are weird, but I guess you were raised by the hag.¡±

    Addison snorted. There wasn¡¯t any way she could argue with, well, any of that.

    Lori pointed directly in front of the pair. ¡°A couple of minutes straight, and then there will be a break to your right. That''s the fastest way out of this area. I figured you were a kid or something, you know.¡± With that, she turned so that they were face to face again. ¡°How do you grow up here and get lose like 10 feet in?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    I didn¡¯t grow up here, Addison thought. I also didn¡¯t walk. Maybe if you fell from the sky into yet another maze of trees and vines you would ask for help too. She shrugged her shoulders. ¡°Its been a day.¡±

    The other woman let out a heavy breath and twisted her mouth slightly to the side. ¡°Yeah.¡± Her eyes swept over Addison before she rolled her shoulders in a mirror to the previous actions. ¡°Well, go on. I have things to do, and none of then involved standing here looking like an idiot with the old hag''s eyes and ears.¡±

    The insult dug deep, and Addison didn¡¯t need another one to be hurled in order to get the hint. She wasn¡¯t wanted, and any moments ¡ª perceived or otherwise¡ª were gone. She shook her head with one annoyed glance at the woman who apparently was unwilling to give anyone else an inch, and begged her feet to move.

    Luckily, they did exactly what she asked them to. None of the people she had been cursed to meet in her few years on every realm would do a damn thing for her, but now it didn¡¯t matter. She walked in the direction that Lori had pointed, and forced her eyes to remain forward. She would find the dirt path on the other side of the trees, and she would find her way to Matildas.

    There was only one path ahead of her. She would find the object as fast as it was humanly possible for her to find, and she would get on with it. There was nothing worse in her mind than spending a single minute longer than she had to under the thumb of folks like this. Any folk, anywhere. Her exhausted mind knew that when she had said yes to the Queen of tricks, and her focused mind knew it now.

    Watching more carefully than she had when searching for a way up the tree, she watched the twigs and bushes and vines. There was not going to be any injuries or extra time spent here. She was in control now, and no idiotic clumsiness would take it back away. With determination sitting in front of every thought, she made her way between the foliage and onto the path. It was an even shorter distance than Lori had made it out to be.

    There was something about the thought that filled her with annoyance. It was better than the other way ¡ª the woman could have gotten her lost and running in circles, but that didn¡¯t matter. Nothing really mattered, and as her feet sent loose dirt up into the air, nothing but her own frustration ran through her body.

    She mattered.

    Addison mattered.

    It was time for everyone else to finally learn that lesson.

 Part 24

    As she walked, the scenery around her wasn''t any more familiar to her than the woods had been. Another fact of her life: Matilda hadn''t exactly let her explore the world. She hadn''t gotten many hours to wander around and have adventures. In fact, she had spent most of her waking hours sulking in her tiny room or doing errands and chores.

    Addison could walk between that hut and the town with her eyes closed, but otherwise most of the realm was a mystery.

    Locked in a swirling path that sent her in dirty hot circles, she felt like a princess trapped up high in a tower. At least the princess got to settle.

    She let out a heavy breath and rolled her eyes at the annoying rotation of thoughts she was having. They weren''t new. They were hellishly old. She knew that she needed to clear her thoughts. Addison ran a hand through her hair, pushing it off her face and back behind her shoulders, and switched her focus from anger and resentment to the path ahead of her. One foot in front of the other.

    She didn''t have a map of where the Fairy Queen''s door had sent her, but she knew that reaching the hut or the town first was equally useful since there was no one demanding her attention yet. She couldn''t be late if there wasn''t anyone who knew she was there, and no one to expect her. A shadow of a smile crept across her lips as she thought about the witch''s reaction to her showing up without being pulled through the portal.

    Just walking through the door.

    It would be a sight to see, for sure.

    The image made walking more comfortable, made each footstep feel a little less like concrete pooled around her feet. Her gait sped up even as each step became lighter. A little less dirt from the path swirled into her face, and just moments after the peace began to settle into her core, she spotted a piece of her destination. The tip of the town''s church poked just over the next hill. The fairy queen hadn''t given her a lot of information about what she was supposed to be doing on Earth, but it didn''t seem like such a bad thing as she approached the outskirts.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    She had never had very much time to explore the world. With the stress of being alone and lost vanishing, she was excited to get some leisure time. Look at shops, have a conversation, maybe even figure out what had really happened between the folks and her guardian. Even if they all still continued to shun her, she had time to handle it. Her little smile grew, and she knew exactly where she would start.

    Addison wanted to know if Lori had gotten any new stock in since she''d last left. Time was difficult for her to keep track of between all the realm hopping, but every day was a chance for something interesting to arrive. As she passed the barrier between loose dirt path and cobblestone and polished streets, she shifted directions. She found even more purpose in her step.

    She marched straight down to the herbalist. Even with leisure time to slow down, she was too determined to remember to look around herself. However, she did stop briefly in front of the door to pat down her clothes and hope she didn''t look like a swamp creature. The glass was too muddy to offer a reflection, and she had nowhere to go to clean up that wouldn''t cause a whole new sequence of events. A calming breath and she pushed through the doors.

    The smell of plants, herbs, dirt, and wafting perfume smacked her in the face. It drilled into her nostrils and stung her sinuses, causing Addison to sneeze rapidly before she could take another step.

    To make matters even better, she felt her cheeks flush with heat when a "Well Bless you!" came from the backroom. Lori''s face appeared at the counter, and most of Addison''s determination fell out of her and onto the floor.

    The rest left when Lori''s face fell. "Oh."

    Addison pulled her lips to one side and put her hands up, palms out. "I''m not here for Mathilda. I¡­" She sighed and walked up to the counter. "You wouldn''t believe me if I tried to tell you. But I was hoping I could look around for a bit. I won''t disturb you."

    "You already have," Lori said, wiping her hands on her apron. "But fine." She looked Addison over the head to toe several times before relaxing her stance, letting Addison let out the breath she''d been holding. "If you break or steal anything, however, I''ll sign your warrant myself."

    The phrase settled like a brick in Addison''s stomach. As if I steal things? she thought and did her best to bite her tongue.

 Part 25

    "I just want to look," Addison said, managing to keep her tone almost neutral. She could hear the bite behind her words, despite the statement being sincere. Almost. She wanted to touch one or two as well. She would love to have the chance to buy or play.

    But she patted her pants and realized she had no bag. She had no money. With a sigh, she knew that her time away from the witch was limited, as she would eventually need shelter and food, and materials. She would need a base of operations to hunt.

    Or find some other way to handle things.

    Lori had shaken her head and walked away from the counter ¡ª off to unpack or plant or do whatever it was an herbalist did when they weren''t behind the counter. Addison had no idea. She had never asked ¡ª she didn''t have that kind of relationship with anyone in the village.

    Having the hesitant permission to be inside the shop, she ventured further inside, moving towards the far corner. Jars of herbs and clay pots lined the majority of the walls; all three had some except the counter, which had boxes behind it. Her destination, however, was the only place with a color that wasn''t green, brown, or black. There was a small table with pots of flowers on top.

    Addison didn''t know much about natural plants. She knew names of the herbs Mathilda needed, and most of them she hadn''t bought fresh or even seen live except for the one trip during her last stint on Earth. The pots of violet and pink flowers drew her attention and focus so strongly she forgot herself and reach out to slide a finger along some of the petals. A single one fell off and floated to the ground.

    Air coming from somewhere moved it back and forth, lifting it once before settling down onto the floor. She bent over and picked it up and set it in the palm of one hand. The petal was silky ¡ª velvety ¡ª so bright in color her lips pulled outward.

    She didn''t spend nearly enough time just¡­ looking at things.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Even in the fairy realm, where bright colors spread in every direction, she didn''t spend time just looking. There had always been more errands transporting waiting around the corner. The Queen acted the best of them all, but humans under her care were intelligent laborers, especially as they got older. Addison wondered briefly, as she turned the petal over in her hand, why the Queen would find a way to let her go.

    She''d have to find someone new, wouldn''t she? Some new deal for some new child.

    "So?"

    The voice startled her and interrupted her thoughts. Her hands formed fists, crushing the petal and catching it inside.

    Lori was back at the counter, staring in Addison''s direction.

    "So?"

    "Find what you were looking for?" Lori asked. She reached behind her, and a scraping sound filled the spaces between the jars and plants before she sat down on what was assumably a wooden stool.

    "Not really looking for anything in particular." Addison glanced at the flower pots before taking a step away from them.

    "Coming into the herbalist for the sights?"

    Addison let out a chuckle, knowing the image she must be giving off. She could only imagine how strange she appeared to the villagers, even though she hadn''t given it much thought before that day. "You had the live plant last time."

    "I have more now," Lori said and gestured at the flower pots. "Branching Out."

    Addison walked up to the counter, realizing the flower petal was still pressed in one hand once she stood in front of the wooden block. She hovered her fist over long enough for the violet ball to float down between the two women.

    "Is this you not breaking or stealing things?" Lori asked and raised an eyebrow. She looked down at the petal and then back up to make eye contact.

    Addison''s heart beat faster. She looked down at the innocent, now dying, petal, and then back up, wondering what ruckus the store owner might cause. If she got into deep enough trouble in the village, she wouldn''t be able to run errands for Mathilda. If she wasn''t as useful, would she be set free, or would she somehow be called to another task ¡ª another clause of the contract that her mother had made with her guardians.

    Would she be homeless or just made to be live in worse hell while she was there?

    Would it matter, now that she was on a mission to free herself entirely of all the realm hopping and restrictions of her life?

    Would she really need to find out over a single petal? All of her new resolve crumbled as she looked at Lori in the face, suddenly feeling like a small child caught lying. "I didn''t¡­ it''s not ¡ª"

    Lori smiled and sunk a little in her stool, her posture relaxing. "I''m kidding, girl."

 Part 26

    Addison''s eyes froze wide as she looked at the shopkeeper''s smile.

    A joke.

    A joke from a woman who had barely let her in the shop for years.

    It took a long moment to process and to pull her mouth all the way closed again. "I''m sorry?"

    "It''s a petal?" Lori responded. She reached out and picked up the small violet ball, flattening it out in her hand as much as she was capable of. Its shape changed, but it didn''t look the way it had when it had still been attached to its flower. "It probably would have fallen whether you were here or not. The dang things fall off all the time."

    "I thought.." Addison''s words trailed off. Clearly, she thought that the herbalist was serious. Everyone was almost always serious where she was concerned since they either had an issue to bring up or another errand to send her on. However, she didn''t know how to voice it without further embarrassing herself.

    Lori had an eyebrow raised, making her smile look like a smirk. "It''s okay. Is there anything you gotta take back with you?"

    A turn in the conversation, even though not unpleasant, brought reality back to the room. "No. I have nothing on me anyways."

    Lori hesitated a moment before she walked out from behind the counter and to the far corner with the flowers. She plucked one out of the barrels before returning. Once on her side of the bar again, she clipped off the bottom and held it out between them. "Fresh for the old hag."

    Addison''s hand reached out, shaking along the way, and grabbed it. She didn''t have a single idea what Mathilda would use a single flower for or why in all the realms Lori was acting so aloof. "Why?" she asked before she could stop herself. Like independence hadn''t stopped at her but had also spread to her lips and hands.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    Lori shrugged, letting her hand drop once she was no longer holding the plant. "You''re good business. Next time come with coins." She pulled a chunk of her brown hair out of her face before straightened herself up ¡ª returning to her more recognizable posture and facial expression. "This shipment ain''t gonna grind itself though," she said, her eyes glancing at the door.

    "Hint taken," Addison said. Her jaw clenched, and she was certain her lips would look like a thin line if she could see herself, but as was often the case, she was glad she couldn''t. Instead of trying and find a way to resolve the strange conversation, she turned on her heels and walked out the door. She hadn''t gotten as much time inside as she had wanted, but she knew she should consider herself lucky. There was a time that the door would have been closed to her immediately without a shortlist and a flash of gold.

    She stood in the street, wondering if anywhere else in the village would find the kindness if she held her head up high up enough. She watched as a pair of women walked in the distance, just close enough to see them glance at her and turn to each other. Whispering, surely. They all whispered and pointed, a reminder that even though Mathilda sent a proxy to avoid the scrutiny, it was still dealt. Sometimes, in moments like this, she wondered if regular folk could smell something different on her. Suppose they saw the fairy dust or could feel the heat of hellfire or the smoke that came off the bottom of the cauldron.

    Sometimes after she fell through the portals, her nose stung, a mix of citrus and sulfur and decay. The smell didn''t change between destinations ¡ª it was strangely always precisely the same. If other people could smell the same, they may very well have a reason to give her strange looks. Wouldn''t she do the same?

    Addison had no way of knowing.

    What she did know was that standing there at the edge of the village wouldn''t change anything and wouldn''t help her any. They wouldn''t shelter her, and she couldn''t think of a reason that any of them held the token she needed for her freedom. So she set on foot in front of the other and began her trek. Even if she didn''t walk in the shops or talk to anyone else, she would still get to ¡ª *have to * ¡ª walk by a good number of them on her way. The road underneath her sent small jolts through her legs with every step, and her hand was beginning the early stages of cramping as it tried not to hold too tight to her new prize.

    The one that she had no idea what to do with.

    Her chin was as high as she could make it be, and when she glanced at the tailor as she passed it, she tried not to make a face at the owner as he stood at the door ¡ª a sour look in his eyes.

 Part 27

    The old man that ran the shop was probably born with the look in his eyes ¡ª even if Addison had seen him playing with a few of the local kids. She wanted to stick her tongue out at him in an act similar to those same children that he seemed to have a tolerance for, but a breeze picked up in that very second. An especially well-timed gust of air swirled around her legs, right into the hole in her knee. It moved upwards and then around until it dissipated.

    She had already gotten too far away to make rude facial expressions and remembered she would have to come back for new clothes eventually.

    She would have to come back for most of the shops eventually. The well-timed wind had forced her thoughts on the future ahead of her. She may not be able to pick just et, but living among her species had its temptations. The mature realization settled in her stomach heavily.

    There wasn''t anything about it she liked. The stares continued as she moved through town, and it made her like it even less. Being reasonable seemed beneath her when none of the adults had done the same for her, but causing messes seemed stupid. So she walked.

    She walked until she reached the outskirts, and the street turned back into a well-worn path leading towards the forest. She followed it south, eyeballing the tree-line and thinking about all that the massive forest offered both her and all the other folks that lived nearby.

    Things like the flower she held in her hand. Flowers, wood, animals for hunting, freshwater from somewhere beyond them, surely. The forest stretched for miles and miles. She had never seen the end of it ¡ª not really. The edge, sure, but never a corner where the trees began to thin and turn into something else. Would they turn into more dusty plains? Another village? Or was it mountains on all the other sides? It suddenly seemed strange that she had seen so very little of the world.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    She was born on Earth ¡ª should have been destined to grow and explore its surface, and yet she had only seen the spaces that her guardian''s handpicked for her to see. A bar on a crossroad, this path that led to her witch, the inside of the forest once or twice a year when certain types of mushrooms grew nearby. So very little. Her fingers tightened around the stem in her hands and found a baby thorn that pricked her skin.

    Instinct brought Lori''s name out like a curse word, and then she felt rather silly as if the woman had done it on purpose.

    "What the blazing devil are you doing here?" a crackling voice called out.

    The sound startled the breath out of Addison, who let out an audible gasp as her body tensed, and her feet froze mid step. Her eyebrows shot up, and both her eyes widened as she looked up in front of her for the source of the voice.

    There, half a dozen feet away from the front door of her shack, was Mathilda.

    Addison hadn''t realized she had walked that far already. It felt like she had just left the herbalist shop a few minutes ago. She was just thinking about the trees and the forest and ¡ª her mind caught up to all the daydreaming she had done as her feet had been moving. It wasn''t as if the witch was even a full day''s trip away.

    "Well?" Mathilda crossed her arms, a stern look on her face.

    The same stern look that had been on everyone''s face recently. A measure of heat back into her chest that had left while she had been walking. "I''m bleeding is what I''m doing. Or do you only have to pretend to care about me when you pull me through the ceiling?"

    "Watch your mouth." Mathilda turned around and made her way inside before yelling from inside the door, "And come in already."

    Addison shook her head, trying not to roll in her eyes.

    The witch always knew, and there were enough fights she would have without adding to it. Picking her battles, or whatever it was called, when people caved on arguments, they probably wouldn''t win. She pulled her finger to her mouth where the bleeding was and walked the last dozen steps up to the front door of her home in the realm.

    The glorious, dusty, hellish home.

    At least Mathilda would probably have a way to help her heal fast. Earth magic had some benefits.

 Part 28

    The door slammed shut as soon as Addison had both feet across the threshold. The noise was a surprise, but she was thankful that she managed to not let her body jump off the ground at every single thing around her like a nervous mouse. Inside looked the same as it did every time she arrived, except this time the witch had managed to get her supplies not too long ago. Above the fireplace, the shelves were filled with stuffed jars, oils, herbs, and the corner of a brown-ish fur peaked out of a corner of a wooden box.

    The cauldron sat on the table with whisps of steam floating out the top with a dozen towels and a blanket sitting underneath it to protect the table. A fire smoldered in its stoney home, and she wondered how the old woman moved the heavy thing by herself. It wasn''t the first time Addison had the thought since she did all the lifting when she was around.

    But she knew it shouldn''t be that surprising. There was only an errand girl around a third of the time or so. Probably a nasty surprise when the details of her mother''s deal became known. Mathilda had bargained for full-time service and gotten a door prize.

    "Don''t get blood on the floor," Mathilda said from the kitchen.

    Addison pulled her finger away from her mouth, having forgotten that she was still holding it there. The prick was almost invisible without the blood, which didn''t seem to be coming anymore. "I won''t."

    She wouldn''t need the help to heal, it seemed. The pain had seared red hot when she had found the thorn that her mind must have assumed it was much worse than it was.

    "More of a general rule, girl." Banging followed the statement.

    The witch was playing the drums on pots and pans, Addison thought as her eyes continued to sweep around the home. She couldn''t find anything that had changed. It felt so alien for her to have walked in without being demanded, pushed, and pulled. Her heart was beating hard in her chest, and she couldn''t shake the feeling that she wasn''t home at all¡ª that she was in a stranger''s house and had to figure out what to do with herself. Should she go help in the kitchen? Or sit on one of the chairs around the dinner table?A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    She could go down the hallway. Sit on her bed and try to come up with a plan. Maybe rummage around to find a new pair of clothes.

    The last thought sounded the most appealing as soon as it crossed her mind. It would also give her a place to put the flower in her hand since she started to feel foolish still carrying it around. She started walking forward and had just hit the hallway''s border when she heard the voice from the kitchen again.

    "Excuse me."

    Addison sighed. "Yes?"

    "You didn''t explain what the hell you are doing here?" Mathilda said. Loudly. Much louder than she needed to over the banging that she was continuing even during her forced conversation.

    "Can I go change, first?" Addison asked.

    The words left her mouth, and she felt even more foolish. It sounded like a strange request, rather than answer a single question. But she had been through multiple forests and three realms in the same outfit and was feeling rather caked with¡­

    well, things she didn''t want to pinpoint. And she knew on a deeper level that it was unlikely to be just the one question.*

    She waited there at the space between the front room and the hallway, waiting for an answer. Several minutes passed, agonizingly slow, and no answer came. She rolled her eyes, already tired of the mounting tension two minutes after arrival, and made her way to her bedroom. Thankful that this space hadn''t changed either. It was always hard to tell what the woman did when she had to be alone, and Addison always expected to come back one time with her stuff moved around, or gone, or replaced with whatever the witch thought would be funny.

    It never was, but Addison always expected it. She laid the flower down gently on the chipped wood dresser next to her bed and began opening drawers to find something clean and decent to put on.

 Part 29

    The drawers were sparse, just the way she had left them. On the bottom were clothes that didn''t fit her anymore because she had gone through a growth spurt in the faerie realm about a year ago. The top was socks, underwear, and two books she''d read a hundred times but hadn''t gotten rid of yet, and in the middle were the things she was actually looking for.

    Not fresh - but an extra pair of folded jeans, a handful of shirts, and the two dresses she owned on all of Earth.

    Her possessions on each realm were meager, something she tried not to think about very often. They rotated when they needed to, make sure she was dressed, fed, and sane enough to continue with her life and errands and tasks, but she was pulled away too often to collect anything of real interest. Everywhere she lived was tricksters who moved things she didn''t have attached to her body.

    Addison sighed, wondering what she would do with herself once she picked a single place to live. What would she buy? What would she collect? Where would she settle down?

    The thoughts rolled through as she stripped off her dirty, ripped clothes. Would she buy a closet full of gowns, like the ones royals wore when they crossed through the town square? Or would she live in ordinary clothes, eventually donning an apron and finding a job at a shop in some town? She pulled a pale green cotton dress over her torso.

    She couldn''t remember when she had gotten it, but the hem still sat at her knees.

    Things had been too wild recently. Her memories were slipping and blurring together. Her quest needed to be over already before she lost control.

    Her door opened, slamming against the wall behind it, startling her out of her thoughts. A recurrence she was thoroughly tired of, and she had only been at the witch''s house for a few minutes.

    Five? Ten?Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    "Are you done, your highness?" Mathilda asked, standing in the doorway. She had a hand on one hip and a mug in the other with steam coming out of the top.

    "I''m dressed." Addison smoothed down the wrinkles in her dress before trying to stand a little straighter. It was nice to be in a clean outfit but also strange. Like the trip between the last few realms had been a lifetime, and now she was donning a new skin.

    "Good. Come to the table." Without another word from either person, Mathilda turned and walked out of the room.

    She really is a very strange woman, was all she thought before walking back down the short hallway and sat on one of the table chairs. Nothing had changed in the few minutes she had been gone, not even an extra cup of whatever the witch had brewed. There was one difference, she corrected her thoughts ¡ª one of the other chairs was occupied.

    At least it was at the head and not on the other side of the cauldron.

    "I''m ready for you to explain yourself. Is the damn Queen going to come after me again? Or should I be looking for a hellhound?" Mathilda asked. It was grating.

    Addison clenched her jaw. The conversation was open, and she knew logically¡­ responsibly¡­ honorably she should answer it with the truth. She should try to explain the deal she had made with the fairy queen, but she still wasn''t sure it would make a lick of sense. She also had a feeling in her gut that opening that line of talk was going to open up a line of questions she couldn''t even begin to predict.

    She could already see the greed behind the old woman''s eyes, wondering what special thing Addison had brought down upon her.

    A lie¡­

    She hadn''t come up with a single crumb of one yet and would slow down her response significantly. She took a deep breath to center herself and try to pick a thought to land on.

    "The flower," Addison said. Her eyes went wide, having no idea where the words had come from. "I got it from the herbalist and wondered if you were working on anything that needed something fresh." Her lips pressed together. There was no way to take it back now without everything getting a little bit worse.

    "You ¡ª"

    "Yeah," Addison interrupted. Rudely, she knew, but the only way she could see forward was just to keep barreling on. "So I came straight here, but if you need a hand for a little while, I''m allowed to stay."

    "Wait." Mathilda''s head tilted slightly to the side as if it might help her process the words that now swirled around the room.

    "Let me go get it." Addison stood up and walked into the room without waiting for a response, exactly like the witch had done to her just a few minutes prior.

 Part 30

    Her feet stopped in front of the dresser, and Addison stared down at the flower as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest felt heavy from the antics she was trying to pull, and it was made worse by not knowing what was coming next.

    As if I ever do, she thought in an effort to calm herself down.

    At the moment, she needed to make her hand move, but both arms were numb. She stared at the violet flower with the tiny thorn somewhere on the stem and heard Lori''s voice. It was a silly sentiment ¡ª a single moment of someone who hated her being kind, but it was hard to get the sound out of her ear. The herbalist was the first person who she wasn''t bound to who had chosen to have half a conversation and be kind about it.

    At least, the first person in a long time, not counting the wandering fey who took enough interest to play for a few minutes. Her childhood had been strange, and now she was giving the gift to Mathilda, who would crush it and ruin it. It stung, even though the thing would eventually die anyway. There wasn''t a choice.

    Addison reached out, carefully tapping to make sure she wasn''t pricking herself again before wrapping her fingers around the stem. She could go anywhere she wanted, soon enough. Flower back in hand, she trekked back down the hall once again and set the slender thing down in front of Mathilda. "I don''t know what kind it is, though."

    "How am I supposed to use it then?"

    Addison froze. It was, unfortunately, an excellent question. She shrugged her shoulders rather than trying to come up with another answer she didn''t have. All of her actions felt alien -- like she was sitting on her shoulder just watching someone else make decisions for her and speak using her voice. "You know your own spells, Matilda. I figured you would be able to figure out a use for it. If you don''t want it, though, I can go take back."Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Except for that, which she wouldn''t argue with at all. She would have no problem taking the flower out of the witch''s gnarled hands.

    Mathilda sighed loudly. "You are acting bizarre today, girl. Talking back, being vague, appearing where you shouldn''t be. Whatever you''re up to will show eventually, and I suspect I won''t like it." She stood, taking the flower with her, and placed it on the mantle. "You still haven''t told me why you''re really here."

    Addison opened her mouth, then shut it again. Deeper than the deal was another layer of truth.

    She didn''t really know why the Fairie Queen had made the deal or sent her to Earth. They were questions that would need answering, but not at that moment, and not with another person who was all too happy to use her. "I did tell you.." She shrugged her shoulders again, feeling the image of an impatient teenager very much but enjoying more than she wanted to admit. "You seem to be having a rough day."

    Mathilda turned around after her hands were free and crossed her arms over her chest. "Am I?"

    Addison leaned back in her chair. "Sorry," she said, although half-heartedly. "I need to know if I can stay here for a minute, though, as I can''t exactly portal myself back to the other realms."

    "You don''t have the power."

    "I don''t have the power," she repeated. She didn''t know the spell, didn''t have the magic, didn''t have anything or know anything that would open up the ground and fling her across dimensions so she could be somewhere, anywhere else. Her guess was that she didn''t have those things for a reason, but she hadn''t broached the subject with any of her guardians for a while.

    She definitely hadn''t asked since the queen had told her she would be free soon. But if she had to choose just one realm, she assumed they may never give her those types of powers.

    Unless she chose hell. Then she''d probably have to go up and make deals and other degrading errands.

    "So?" Addison asked when the witch still hadn''t answered her question.

    "So?" Mathilda mocked as she leaned against the table.

    "Can I stay?"

    "You''ll have to go get us supplies."

    of course, Addison thought. Of course, the first thing I will have to do is your shopping.

    She would, however, and she knew that going back into town may actually be worthwhile this time around.