Update
But for good news, here is a movie I made for
I created a youtube account in order to post it here, which means the song I've been promising
ETA a little background:
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Part 1 can be found here.
Magic is like drawing. Everyone can draw, to a certain extent, but some are better at it than others. Even those who are great artists have talents in particular areas – landscapes, portraits, anime – but all of them can draw a circle, a square, a moon and sun.
Magic is the same. Everyone can do magic, to a certain extent, but some are better at it, or have more power, than others; and different magic users have different talents.
Like all magic users I know a few basic spells, but my talents lie in sight. I have strong foresight and can create and see through lies, both visual like the faery glamour, and built into language.
So last Thursday, after I walked around all day feeling naked without my sword, I took the hint and began wearing it constantly. In Faery I wouldn’t have gotten a second glance, but on a college campus in the United States I decided discretion was in order, so covered it in an invisibility spell.
On Monday, after my last midterm of the quarter, I was walking out of the library when I heard my name being called.
“Pandora! Pan!” I turned to see my friend Dola sprinting across Red Square towards me. “You just have to come see this, it’s the strangest thing.” Her curly brown hair framed her face in a jumble, the wind having made a mess of everything. But her eyes, her eyes were eerie, as if she’d seen something she never believed possible.
A jolt of adrenaline shot through my bones, and I closed my hand over the hilt of my sword. “Show me.”
She took off running again, up towards the entrance to campus, and I pelted after her, backpack bouncing as I ran. What was up at the front of campus? I tried to consider as I ran uphill. It’s a useless question, mostly, because Faery is everywhere and you can step into the In-Between at any point; but some places draw magic more than others and so are more likely to have strange occurrences.
We reached the top of campus, Dola breathing hard as she led me into a stand of chestnut trees, and I had my answer.
What was up at the entrance to campus? The observatory: one of the easy accesses to the Unseelie Court.
It’s why I think there aren’t any other Guardians in Seattle: who would want to live closer to the Unseelie Court than they had to? I, tough girl that I am, ignored that consideration when choosing to come to UW. Let’s hope it wasn’t a mistake.
I had heard of a secret hidden in the Suzzallo Reading Room, a key of some sort left by the fae. It wouldn’t get me through the Unseelie Court unscathed, but it should get me through faster, and if this kept up I might need the advantage.
When I was little, I asked my mother why fae could use magic so easily, but most humans only used magic by accident. She told me that humans were the dreams of gods, while fae were the dreams of angels; thus humans are closer to the makings of the world, while fae are closer to the workings of it.
There are those of us for whom magic does not take great study and work, for whom magic comes naturally, like to the fae. But we are not fae. We are human: born of blood and dirt and the spit of gods – and being human has its advantages, as well as disadvantages.
We are called Guardians by some, Witches by others, but our task is always the same: we walk the boundaries and edges, placed there by the power in our human blood, and protect those who are ours.
I am the only Guardian in the city of Seattle, a junior at the University of Washington. I’m the right age, and as I told my family when packing for school, sometimes I like to pretend I’m normal.
But it never lasts for long.