Mercy Chapter 5

Once Faith got outside the testing building, she found Talia waiting for her.

“All taken care of?” Talia asked.

“Yeah, for now. I ... have a lot to learn, though.”

“Well, you are at a school. Come on, you must be hungry. Let’s go eat.”

When they got to the cafeteria, Talia noticed a white-haired girl waving at them.

“Oh, look!” She said to Faith, “I wanted you to introduce you to Arwen anyway.”

The two girls came over to the table, and Talia said, “Faith, this is Arwen. She was the one who had the vision of you being in trouble.”

Faith tentatively took the girl’s hand. “I’m really glad to meet you. Forgive me for asking, but can you maybe tell me what it was you saw?”

“Well, I saw you, and your change, and I saw two shadows coming for you. One was the slave of the other, but if they had found you, they would have ... absorbed you. Turned you into something like them. And everybody else would suffer.”

“Whoa. It must hard, having that kind of power.”

“Sometimes. But sometimes, I’m able to use my power to help, like I did for you. That makes it worthwhile.”

“Well, thank you for helping me.”

“I’m glad I could.”

Faith had other questions, but before she could ask, a student came up to her and said, “Excuse me, are you Faith?” You’re wanted in the magic department.”

“I’ll come with you.” Talia said, and the two girls went to the magic building.

They were met by a young woman who introduced herself as Erica-Jane.

“What’s this about?” Faith asked.

“Come on in, I found some information you might want to hear.” Erica-Jane said.

The two girls followed her, and they made their way to a medium-sized office.

“This is Mrs. Chulkris’ office. She’s dealing with some other students, but since I was the one to discover the info, she said I could share it with you.”

“How did you know about me?” Faith asked.

“When you had your powers tested, a question was raised about your wings, and the kind of magic they are. So they asked me to look into it, since obscure stuff like that is my hobby.”

“So what did you find out?”

“Well, apparently, a long time ago, there was this warrior race with wings, who fought against everybody, even the Old Gods. They managed to make a small kingdom, but soon started fighting each other. Their kingdom vanished, and they disappeared. And according to this old text I found, some came to Earth, disguised themselves as humans, took human spouses, and then they were gone.”

“And you think that’s related to me why?”

“Well, take a look at this picture next to the text.”

Faith looked at the picture. She could certainly see the resemblance, because even though the woman was both scary and beautiful, her wings looked exactly like Faith’s own.

“Whoa.” Faith exclaimed.

“Yeah. I thought you’d want to know.”

“Thanks. If you find anything else out, I’d appreciate hearing it.”

“No problem.” Erica-Jane said.

“Come on, Faith,” Talia said, “We should go get to our beds. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

“Okay.” Faith said, and the two girls made their way back to Poe.

Once in the dorm room they shared, Talia gave Faith a set of PJ’s to wear.

“I thought these might be easier for you than a nightie, at least till you get a chance to get used to the girl thing.”

“Thank you so much. Do you mind if I ask, why have you done so much for me? I mean, I’m grateful, but you didn’t even know me.”

“Don’t you know? I thought you were the mind reader.”

“I’ve been trying to keep out of people’s heads. Everybody should have some privacy.”

“Good philosophy. As to why I wanted to help, let’s just say that when I needed it, people helped me, so I wanted to pay it forward. Then I got to know you, and I like you.”

“Thank you. I like you too.”

“Glad to hear that. Now, you should wash up, change, and get some sleep.”

Faith made her way to the bathroom, and stopped to examine her reflection.

“Was it only this morning that I saw that face in the mirror for the first time?” She wondered, “So much has happened today, I haven’t had any chance to really think about being a girl.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie” Her mother whispered.

“It’s okay, mom. I just hope things slow down a little so I can get used to it.”

“I hope so too, hon. But at least you’ve already made some friends here. That will help.”

Faith sighed, finished her business in the bathroom, and crawled into her new bed.

The Nest was in flames, but the old woman ignored most of the screams as she flew toward her daughter’s home. Smashing through the door, she grabbed the small girl who has crying beside the broken form of the old woman’s daughter. “It’s too late for us. But it’s not too late for you.” She said to the sobbing girl. “You must hide, survive, and never forget what brought us down. We forgot mercy.”

The shadow reached for the little girl. “No matter where you hide I will find you. Then we will see if you’re strong enough to be worthy to survive.”

Faith woke from the nightmare, and tried to calm her heart down. She finally managed to relax, and fell back asleep ...

*****

Meanwhile ...

A growling shadow outside the campus was joined by another shadow, this one shaped like a man with wings.

“Soon, my pet. We will draw her out, and then she will be yours.” He said.

To be continued ....