Chapter Eighteen :

What Happened? /

I sat up in my bed, gasping for breath. My alarm clock read 11 A.M.. After sitting and breathing slowly for a few minutes, the panic left me. It's okay, it was just a nightmare, I told myself.  Above my head, numerous glowing butterflies fluttered about. My window was shut, I wondered how they got in. They made a formation on my ceiling, spelling "FROM MIRAI." 

"My dream? It was from Mirai?" I asked aloud. "YES." The butterflies spelled out. "But... From Mirai, that wasn't a dream. It was a vision, from the future - " I quavered. 

I ran downstairs. Dolion sat on the floor, leaned against the wall in the kitchen. "What's going on?" I questioned cautiously. "What do you mean?" It asked sweetly, its silver eyes meeting mine. "I... I don't really know," I started. "First, with the creatures at the faery village. And I wasn't so sure about you - after they called you 'traitor.' And I had a nightmare..." 

It shook its head calmly. "It's okay that you don't completely trust me. You don't have to. I'm on your side, I promise. And I can understand that you're not sure about all of this... It's confusing, isn't it?" 

"Yes, it is," I replied warily. 

"What was your dream about?" Dolion asked.

"I don't want to think too much about it; it was horrible," I shuddered. "But over all, it was about the end of the world... I think. And Mirai sent it; it was a vision - not a dream." 

Dolion nodded its head. "What are you going to do about it?" 

"I'm not sure... I didn't really know what to do even before the vision. But as of right now, I have to eat breakfast." 

After eating breakfast, I went back upstairs to brush my teeth and shower. In the steam-covered mirror, I looked different. I wiped some of the fog off, but I still couldn't recognize who stared back. My long blond-ish white hair lay wet against my shoulders, and my lavender eyes had an emptiness to them. Lavender, I heard my name in my head. My mother saying it. My father. If only they were awake enough... To be here for me. I was doing this almost entirely alone, and I didn't know who to trust. My parents weren't alive enough to wrap me up in their embrace, tell me that everything was going to be okay. I myself didn't know if everything would be okay. Staring at myself in the mirror, all I saw was  my pale skin and sharp features, countless freckles and white eyelashes. I looked as if I belonged in the world I currently lived in, not the normal one from before. I pulled at the Amethyst pendant on the necklace my mother had bought for me. I loved my parents so much; I missed them. But I was nothing like them; I belonged here - in this awful world. 

I got dressed and slammed the bathroom door behind me, not understanding why my thoughts had become so scrambled and unfamiliar. 

Hours later, I sat on the rug in my room. I hadn't gone anywhere or done anything. I just sat there, letting my mind wander. Maybe I'd think up the solution to all of this. Maybe I'd go insane. 

I walked across the room to my window and opened it. Sitting in the windowsill and letting the warm breeze blow through my hair, I felt a little better. The fuchsia leaves of the trees stirred, and I could smell something floral. The sun shone an apricot light over the outside world. I should be out there, not sitting in this house, I thought.