Fae Conundrum

[Flamebird]

“It’s more complicated than that,” Felicity shook her head. With the role of wrapping on her head, she reached up and pulled the distracting cloth off.

“This magic is literally a part of me.” She folded her arms as she cynically explained, “A friend of mine, Nevin, a dear person, helped me a lot in this research. We found out many things, like how exactly it affects my body. One thing is that it’s bound to my chemical makeup, maybe even my DNA. Trying to dispel my powers would be dispelling me. He used the word ‘deleterious.’”

The soft wind ruffled the palm leaves of the jungle trees. As the sound swept pleasantly through the camp, she lowered her arms into a self preserving hug. It was the anxiety. Her chest pounded in constricted pain. She still pushed on, “We’ve decided on medications that have helped. Blood thinners for thick blood, blood pressure pills for the blood pressure, lavender oil for the stress and anger issues, pinkleaf juice concoctions for the anger, angel tree syrup for the anger…” Her voice trailed off more and more as the list of anger reducers came up. She finally stopped, red cheeked, and nervously chuckled.

After the moment of embarrassment, she smiled, “We’ve made progress, Yvonne, believe me. We just aren’t one hundred percent there yet.” She waved her arm lightly as she looked towards her sword. Her expression narrowed as she spoke, “This ability is an incredible help in combat. I just-“ She stopped, stammered, closed her eyes. Her voice was lower, but still loud. “I am determined to control this beast. I will. I’ll prove them all wrong!” Her shout was aimed towards, well, her many discriminating and naysaying foes.

She turned her focus back towards Yvonne, looking back at her. “You probably wouldn’t understand, considering your culture, but I can make lemonade out of lemons, so to speak.” She smiled, “I believe this can work, with effort. It’s hard to see sometimes, but I can do this.”

She slumped again as a thought crossed her mind, “Back at the butcher’s, I-I had an anxiety attack.” She chuckled in a mixture of awkwardness and sadness, “I was thinking irrationally, it’s a symptom.” She held her hand out in a matter of factly gesture. “I’m not as, well… hopeless… as I sounded back there.”

She winced as she looked back. Yvonne’s mention of the phrase fire with fire only made her think more of the person she had her flashback of. She shuddered… In actuality, she despised that phrase.