Page 40 of Defy Me

Yes, the grass, the trees, the flowers. They were all familiar. This was the park outside of her orphanage. There wouldn't be an abbey around the corner, it was an old church that had been converted by the nuns into an orphanage. She'd grown up in that church building. But how could it be here? She didn't remember anything about the city of Edinburg, or even having ever been to Scotland before, much less having grown up here.

Yvaine pushed the muscles in her legs to take her faster, to cross the park and see the church for herself. She sprinted through a copse of trees and down a sand and gravel path. The edge of the palace wall took a sharp turn and so did she. There, there was the church. It's arched windows and stone facade glowed in the moonlight. But there was something wrong. The outbuildings were gone, only stone outlines in their places. The chapel had no roof. Everything she'd known was in ruins.

She went toward the front where the big wooden doors should be, the feeling of rocks in her stomach grew with each step. She stopped a few feet in front of the church. A blue box stood to the left of the main entryway displaying some sort of tourist information. How could this be? She'd been here only a few months ago. She was sure of it.

Everything was wrong.

"Hello, Yvaine." A woman in long black robes and her head covered stood just inside the crumbling archway.

"Mother Superior?" The woman who Yvaine was sure had hated her as a child simply could not be standing here. She must have hit her head a lot harder than she thought. None of this could be real.

"Open your eyes, child. I think you can see me better than that now."

Yvaine blinked, but still the nun stood there. "I don't understand."

She waved Yvaine toward her. "You should have stayed with us. Then you would still be innocent and wouldn't have to try to understand any of this. You could be safe in our care, just as you mother wanted you to be."

"My mother?" Not once in all the years she'd spent in the orphanage, the countless times she'd been chastised and disciplined by the Mother Superior, the countless nights she'd cried herself to sleep wondering if there was anyone in this entire world who had ever cared about her had anyone ever said anything about her mother. She'd wondered for a long time if it was possible she didn't even have one.

"Come, Yvaine." She sounded a little impatient. "I didn't think we'd see you again. This will give me a chance to explain and let you decide your own fate. If that's even possible anymore."

Choose her own fate. She wished Jett were here now. She would choose him. The unicorn hadn't mysteriously appeared, there was till time to go back to the beach and look for him. She wanted his strength, his love to help her figure out what to do. Without knowing who and what she was she'd be going to him as only a part of herself.

He'd given everything to her. She owed him the same. Yvaine stepped toward the Mother Superior and just as she crossed the threshold of church she heard Jett call her name.

Yvai--

The sound of his voice was cut off and the world around her shifted, changed into something from a dream. Night changed back into day, darkness into a soft light. The ruins of the church were restored, not to stone but to the branches of great big trees that formed a domed canopy. The tinkling sound of children singing somewhere in the forrest echoed off the leaves. A cool breeze drifted through her hair where the air should be still and the babbling of a clear brook called to her to take a long quenching drink.

She lowered her head to sip from the water and caught her reflection in a puddle near the grassy bank. Except that could be her. She skittered back and almost fell over her own feet.

Hooves.

She opened her mouth to ask what in the world was going on but the words came out as a soft whinny.

"Shh, shh, shh. Calm yourself, Yvaine. Your body already remembers who you are, your mind will catch up in a moment. Use your mind to speak, I'll hear you just fine." The voice was that of Mother Superior, but the face and form were not.

Who are you and what is this place?Whoa. Was that her voice?

The woman, fairy, person, thing smiled at her as if to say good job on remembering how to talk. "This is Sìthean,the otherworld, your home. I am Cait of the Sìth."

This isn't my home. Although, she did have to admit if felt familiar, comfortable even.

"Ahh, you're right. It was your home. Fate has taken you to a new realm and I fear you're going to stay there with yourbrollachan, aren't you?"

My who? Do you mean Jett? Can you please explain what is going on here?

"Always so impatient. Fine, yes. Maybe if you'd known all along, you wouldn't have been tempted into leaving by that sneaky goddess."

I don't remember any goddess. I don't have a freaking clue what you're on about. Just start at the beginning and when you get to the end, stop.

"A long time ago, in a--"

Wait, skip ahead to the bit about me.

"You're too sassy for your own good, Yvaine. Blah, blah, blah, your mother was dying and asked the Sìthto hide you in the otherworld. She didn't want you to suffer the same fate as she."

Wait, back up a smidge. What was my mother's name and why was she dying?

---