Morgan eyed the little fairy with a mixture of intrigue and caution. Part of her was excited beyond words at the prospect of getting to learn real magic, but another part of her thought that this fairy-girl already seemed a little off-kilter - all giggly, and if she really thought she was a princess...but then, if she did have the ability to let Morgan dabble in magic... "Wh-what were you like before...before you changed?" she asked. It seemed like kind of a rude thing to say, but she really wanted to know whether this girl was crazy, or just weird, or what.
Princess Vertex stared at the girl in confusion for a moment. Changed...? Oh, the sun thing! She remembered something about that, something her mother had explained to her before she was sent here. She smirked. "I am a true fairy!" she said. "I was never human at all!" After she'd said it she realized that it sounded a bit rude - not that she herself wasn't a bit insulted at the idea that she'd ever not have been a fairy, but it wouldn't do to get off on the wrong foot with her protegé. "Um, that is," she said, "the Sun in my land doesn't change people."
Morgan stared at her. "Really?" She knew perfectly well that the changed Sun had spread its effects over the entire world - so either this girl was crazy, or this was even bigger than she thought...
Vertex nodded. "Really! The fairy land's a very different place from your world. But I had to come here to be your companion."
"Why...why me?" Morgan asked. Not that she would've passed up this opportunity just because she didn't know the reason for it, but she was genuinely curious. It couldn't just be because she wanted something interesting to happen to her, could it? If that were true, why didn't she have a more exotic change to begin with? But...she couldn't exactly think of any other reason aside from the fact that this was the kind of thing she'd always yearned for...
Vertex eyed her, wondering exactly how much she should reveal. She knew the story about this girl, all the fairies did...or at least, she knew the story she'd been told about this girl. But before she'd been sent here, she'd been cautioned about revealing the whole truth too quickly...she saw the gleam in the girl's eye, even when she was trying to look detached and cautious, and she guessed that maybe her mother and father worried that she would take to her new power too readily, and awaken something within herself. But then, why was she sent here if not to awaken this girl's power?
She decided, for the moment, to play it safe. Besides, it wasn't like she couldn't explain more later, if need be. She drew herself up into a standing position, her feet planted firmly on thin air, and gave a little curtsy. Morgan couldn't help but giggle at that. "You have been chosen," the fairy said, "because you are Two, of the Numbers. You are one of the protectors of this world against the Enemy that threatens it, and I've been sent to help you awaken your latent power and learn how to fight them."
Morgan thought for a moment, then gasped. "Y-you mean...the Sun made me...magic?"
Vertex giggled. "Not quite," she said. "The sun connected you with your nature as Two. Before that you were separated from it, like all humans have been since...a long time ago," she said. "But your nature was in you from the moment Morgan Mallory was born." That was a...diplomatic way of putting it, entirely true but not the whole truth. Again, though, she could explain things further when it was needed. Besides, it reflected the general nature of the Numbers perfectly; Morgan was just a bit of a special case.
Morgan stared at her, open-mouthed. Did she mean that magic had used to exist? She felt a knotting in her stomach at that, at the idea that people might once have had that, and then had it taken away from them...who would dare? Why would they do something like that? But...if she could be part of helping to bring it back... And this explained so much: why she'd always felt as if something were missing from the world, why that feeling had only gotten stronger since her change...she'd been right! All along, she'd been right! The world was incomplete, missing things that would've made it so much cooler, but now...now she could help to bring that back! Now...
...now, more than anything, she wanted to do it. She wanted to feel what it was like to use magic. She stared up at Vertex, her face reflecting an almost physical hunger. "How do I start?" she asked.
Muriel let out a sigh of relief. Her dad had come down from the attic, and while Melanie was initially wary of him, Jenny had assured her that he didn't mean her any harm, and enthusiastically showed her that the flames of his mane weren't dangerous. Then she'd dragged the insect-girl off to explore the rest of the house, leaving the adults a moment of peace and quiet. And now...now was the difficult part.
"Mom, Dad," she began. "I, uh, I explained to you last time about Jenny and what she's a part of." Her father nodded. "Well," she said, "on Tuesday the 'Enemy' she's up against...found a way to try and eliminate her."
Her mother gasped, and her father paled. "If there's anything we can do to help," he began. Muriel shook her head. "It's...it's all right. It didn't work, and as far as we know they can't do it again, and probably wouldn't anyway." She sighed. "What they did...was to create a sort of 'opposite' of her. Tetra understands more about all this than I do, but the gist of it was, the opposite was supposed to contact her, and they'd..." She felt herself choke up. "They'd...cancel each other out." She didn't even mention the probable destruction...not that she hadn't been in a very real sense concerned for the millions who might die, but to her...Jenny had almost been killed.
In a moment, her parents were there beside her, comforting her. Muriel felt a little strange; here she was, a grown woman, and now an adoptive mother, being comforted as if she was still a child...but of course, she was still their child. She didn't mind...right now she'd take any comfort she could get. "I...I'm okay," she said, at last. "But...the opposite..."
"It's Melanie, isn't it?" her mother asked. Muriel nodded. Her father frowned. "Is it safe for them to be off together?" he asked. "What happened?"
"It's fine," the insect-woman said. "It's...it's kind of a long story, and I don't really get all of it, but...well, from what I gather, they...they didn't count on the possibility that she'd develop a will of her own. She tracked down Jenny, and she almost..." She shuddered. "...almost got her a couple times, but...even then, I think she'd worked out that it would mean her own death as well. Jenny..." She smiled, even as she was tearing up a little. "Jenny held her own...she had her at gunpoint, but she didn't press her advantage...she just talked her down..." She was beaming; she was so proud of her little girl, for not letting her own fear drive her to needless violence...
Her father smiled a bit. "So she decided not to go through with it? But Jenny and Melanie were touching just now, when they ran off..."
Muriel nodded. "She did. And...apparently, once the Enemy realized she wasn't going to do what they made her to do, they just...kicked her out. Somehow that took away the part of her that was Jenny's opposite; that's why they can touch without...without obliterating each other. But...taking away that part made her start to...to just...fade away. I kinda guessed and gave her some of my blood...somehow that worked, I dunno, I guess it was magic or something, but that served for the missing part; that's why she looks as much like me as she does like Jenny. So now she doesn't have that nature anymore, she's just..."
She sighed, shaking her head. "She's a very confused little girl who's been abandoned by what she apparently considered part of her own self," she said. "And she's been dropped into a human life, which she has no more than a couple days' experience in, and into a world she doesn't understand. It...it seems like she's still coming to terms with even being a person. I don't think they gave her any more knowledge than she needed to carry out her mission." She looked up at her parents. "And...that's kind of the problem," she said. "I can manage to support her and Jenny, but I can't be a stay-at-home mom 24/7 and continue to do my job. And I can't leave Melanie with just anyone, because she doesn't have the kind of structure necessary to get along in a daycare or school environment, not yet, and daycare providers aren't exactly trained to deal with what she's probably going through..."
Muriel shrugged. "I...I don't want to impose or anything," she said. "And...if I have to quit my job, I can manage that; the government guy is willing to see to it that we're supported. But I don't want to just abandon everything for that, not if I don't have to. Mom, Dad, I was wondering if...if you could help us out."
