Princess of Faerl
13. The Meadow

*Elentari*

I yawn and walk towards the far corner of the room where there is another door. I open it and it’s much more my style. A full-size bed with a black comforter that has the triple moon goddess symbol on it. This makes me smile. I take my shoes off and curl up in the comfy bed. Out of habit, I call out, “Echo, set an alarm for 3 hours.” To my surprise, I got a response telling me an alarm would wake me. Of course, my echo was with me. I’d be lost without it. Sleep overtakes me quickly as I’ve been up for over 24 hours.

No sooner than my eyes are closed, I’m in the middle of a huge expanse that has various themes around it. One was a meadow with beautiful flowers, another a forest with beautiful lights and bright colors. A third had cliffs and caves with a gorgeous waterfall. The last one was a library with books that I couldn’t see the top of. This was amazing. I slowly walk around taking in the breathtaking view. I hear large wings flapping over my head and look up. A brilliant light blue dragon is flying. She looks amazing. Her wings are tipped in silver that sparkle in the light. I gasp and smile. She’s unbelievable. The ground shook a bit as she landed. She transforms before my eyes into a humanoid figure. Her tail shrank but she kept it, her ears are pointy, and her eyes are silver. Her hair is sky blue with silver tips. She has scales that come down to cover her breasts and over her lady bits and bottom. The rest of her skin was the same shade as mine. She also has silver tribal-like markings over her body and a purple heart that seemed like a tattoo interrupting the scales covering her chest in the middle of her breastbone.

Then, a large wolf runs up, almost knocking me over, licking my face and howling at me. She then took her turn to shift and was very similar to the shifted dragon except her eyes were sapphire blue, just like in her wolf form, and her coverings were bright white fur. She was just as tall as the dragon, both of them being around six and a half feet. She also kept her fluffy white tail and had the same silver markings as the dragon, minus the purple heart.

From the library, Silk approached. She again was a mirror of me but had the same markings as the others. I couldn’t tell if she had the purple heart or not as she was dressed similarly to me but in darker colors. Serenity approached from the forest, flying just above the ground. She had the markings as well. I stared at them all in awe, trying to take it all in and understand what was happening. This was different from what I had thought my zone was before. So much brighter, detailed, and amazing. It still felt familiar, though.

“Welcome home!” Silk exclaimed very excitedly. “Now you can clearly see us. We will be able to help you train as well. This is going to be so amazing!” Her happiness radiated off her. Off of all of them, really.

“This place is beautiful. Where are we? This isn’t like the place you called our zone previously.” I blurt the question out, trying to keep myself in check and not seem like I was as awestruck as I obviously was. I even felt like the sun was kissing my skin, giving me warmth. I turned my face upward and smiled.

“This is your zone. It’s in the space that’s created just for us. Some humans like to think it’s in their mind, but it’s really not. It’s like what humans call astral projecting. It was so dark before because of the “medication” you were taking before. It hampered your connection to us and to this plane. You couldn’t see or communicate effectively. She told you it was medication but really it was a vial substance.” Arashi explained to me. Her voice is rather deep and booming. It demands attention and captivates me. I nodded softly.

“So that wasn’t medication at all.” I look around at their faces. Each one has a unique look of disgust on their face.

“No!” They all say in unison. I feel like my space is the set of ‘Inside Out’ right now. Their tones are all mixed and almost seemed to echo even though it was an open space.

“How do you manage to echo in an open space?” I ask them rhetorically. I didn’t necessarily want an explanation, just wanted them to realize how intense they were being.

They all laughed at me as we sat down in a circle. The four of them linked hands while two of them reached out their other hand to me. I felt power swirl through me as our hands touched. It felt insane. Our hair flew up as if a violent wind made it stand on end and all of their tattoos began to glow. I close my eyes again, soaking it all in. We stop talking and just vibe.

My mind drifts and I see a petite woman with luscious brown hair that reached down to the middle of her back with gentle rolling curls. She’s muttering something about meeting her fated tonight for the first time. She pulled out a deep purple floor-length dress with a deep neckline from her wardrobe. I turned up my nose at the sight. It didn’t seem like her at all. Almost as if she heard my thought, she kept talking to herself, “No, this won’t do. Why am I so nervous? I had no problem chasing his scent earlier when I was all sweaty from training and gross. Pull it together woman.” I giggle internally. She goes back to the closet and pulls out a flowy hippie-style dress that is knee-length. It has thin straps and flowers embroidered on it in various colors. The fabric itself is a pretty light lilac. This felt so much more like her. I don’t even know how I know that. She smiled in her mirror looking at herself. She then put on a pair of wedges that looked like straw was on the heel. “There, now something to do with my hair.” As quickly as she came into my head she then disappeared. I woke up back in the bed in the alcove next to Stacie’s room.

Fairy Night Song started playing on my Echo and Stacie came into the room. “Wake up, sleepy head!” She announced, “You need to be up and at ’em. Not to mention your makeup is fucked after that deep sleep.” She made a face to indicate I looked like a hot mess express. I bolted upright and grabbed my purse, pulling out a compact mirror.

“You brat!” I yell and throw a pillow at her. My makeup was fine. I smile at her antics. It was amazing the difference today has made. This never would have been possible in that old house. Though, my hair does need some help. “Do you think I should change?” I asked, “I mean, I’m a princess now. Should I try to dress the part?”

She snorts at the idea, “The day you trade in your chains and platform knee highs for heels and a princess dress is the day humanity ends. You are you. If you aren’t what they consider a princess, redefine it. If they don’t like it, fuck ’em.” Her blunt analysis made me happy. She’s right.

“Well, I guess I’m dressed for dinner,” I state pulling my hair out of the ponytail it’s in and smoothing it out. “I got this. No biggie. Besides, for the time being, you’re a Duchess and I’m just a ‘miss’. Nothing more.” I stuck my tongue out at her.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, “At least my style is more conventional and I’m good.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. I knew she was joking.