Celtic Magic (10 page)

She was still giggling and spinning when her
mother appeared before her with Jasmine by her side. She gasped
when she saw Jasmine, as she had changed quite a bit in the few
seconds since she had seen her in the gazebo. She was also wearing
a pastel dress like hers, only it was in a soft pink. That was not
what had surprised her though, and she walked up to her to get a
better look. Her ears had become long and pointy, and she had
wings, like the ones she saw on the people that were flying. Only
hers were much larger, and instead of being soft pastel colors, as
were the others, hers were hot pink, and looked as though they were
slightly glowing.

She remembered that her mother had told her
she was a faerie, but she didn’t expect her to look anything like
this. As if hearing her thoughts Jasmine smiled.

“This is my true form. I cannot change my
looks in the Other World, only in the mortal one. I am sorry if
this startles you.”

Abby giggled, “Startled me? I think you are
the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Your wings are
perfection, I wish I had some like that.”

Jasmine nodded, “Yes, I am a faerie
princess, and my mother was supposed to be queen before my aunt
took over her throne, when she mated with a god. That is why I stay
away from this world as much as possible, but I can make an
exception for you my dear.”

Abby smiled and looked back over at her
mother, who was looking into the distance at the large castle.

“Are you ready for me to show you more of
the Other World?” her mother asked her, never taking her eyes off
of the castle.

Abby nodded, and Aine took her hand and they
started to walk forward.

They walked straight toward the castle, in
silence at first looking all around her at the sights that seemed a
bit unnatural at first, but as she looked they started to feel more
real than anything she had ever seen before. Finally her mother
started talking.

“First we will take you to the castle, as it
is yours by birthright, even though we will surely have to fight
Elysia to get it back.”

She looked over at her mother, “Who is
Elysia?” she asked her.

Jasmine spoke up, “She is the Faerie Queen,
my aunt, the one who would like that the gods didn’t exist.” Abby
started to ask another question but her mother started to speak
again.

“It is there that you will someday rule the
Other World, and where you will live. It is situated in the center
of the Other World, and from there you can see then entire kingdom.
It is the best place for you to see what will be yours
someday.”

Abby’s heart started to pound at the thought
of being a queen and ruling anything.

“Isn’t Elysia there? I mean she is the queen
right now right?” she asked, feeling nervous for the first time
since stepping through the portal.

Her mother squeezed her hand, “No dear, she
is not there. The castle was built by Zeus himself for the first
queen of the Other World, and it has many enchantments upon it.
Only a God shall position themselves upon the throne inside the
walls, and only a God shall enter. Jasmine can enter only because
she has a God’s blood running through her veins, otherwise she
would not be able to even get past the gates. I will explain more
once we are inside, Elysia no doubt already knows that you are
here, she has spies everywhere” her mother explained.

They continued to walk in silence until Abby
noticed a creature that was so odd looking; she had to ask them
what it was. It was very short, probably only came to her knees,
and looked almost human, except for its skin, which was a grayish
green color.

“What is that?” she asked, not caring who
was listening.

Jasmine laughed, “That is a dwarf, one of
the magical creatures that live here in the Other World. It is not
very common for them to be out in the open this way normally” she
explained.

“They usually live under the ground, mostly
near the mountains, but that one seems young, so he may be lost”
she continued. Suddenly, they stopped walking.

“We are here at the gates of the castle.”
Aine said, as she reached out her hand into what seemed like
mid-air.

Abby looked around, they were on the bank of
a large river with water so blue, it looked nearly impossible to be
real. Beyond the river was a thick forest with only the tip of the
large castle visible above the trees. Abby looked over at Jasmine
and noticed that she was looking at her and smiling.

“You looked confused Abby” she said with a
small chuckle. Her mother looked back to her.

“I’m sorry dear, I keep forgetting that you
have never been here before. In order to see the bridge, you have
to use your magic. I think this is a good opportunity for you to
test yours out a little bit. Don’t you think Jasmine?” she
asked.

Jasmine nodded and leaned over to her ear,
“Okay Abby you need to put your hands out in front of you, and in
your mind you need to think about getting to the castle. Remember
to think about it being your birthright from the blood in your
veins, just like you did to the entrance of the Other World” she
said softly.

Abby looked over at her mother, who had just
put her hands down, and walked forward to the edge of the river.
She put her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes and she
wished she could get into the castle. As soon as the thoughts
crossed her mind, she suddenly felt something in her hand, and it
felt a lot like a rope. She gasped and looked over at Jasmine.

“Good” she said, “Now pull it toward you and
the bridge will open.”

Abby took a deep breath and she pulled the
invisible rope, and suddenly it was as though a giant curtain had
been lifted and where there was nothing before was suddenly a huge
bridge in front of her. The invisible rope disappeared out of her
hand and she stood there gaping at what she had just done. The
bridge was larger than anything she had ever seen, arching up into
the sky and back down farther than she could see.

The bridge shone in the light, and looked as
though it were made of pure silver, with bright colored jewels
running through the hand rails. She watched as her mother and
Jasmine started to walk across the bridge, so she took a deep
breath and stepped forward.

Chapter
1
7

She let out her breath in relief as she
stepped onto the bridge, and not into cold water, as she had
imagined happening. She looked down in surprise as the silver
bridge actually felt warm under her bare feet and noticed that it
was disappearing behind her after they walked across it.

She hurried to catch up with her mother and
Jasmine, ready to be off of a bridge that could appear out of thin
air. She looked up as the castle was suddenly right in front of
them and noticed that it was not as white as it appeared from so
far away, but was actually a very light iridescent pink.

Her mother pushed open the large doors and
they walked inside, their footsteps echoing in the enormous room.
She turned in circles and looked around at the walls; they were
bright and colorful with pictures of all different creatures
painted right on them. There was only one problem; the only door in
the room was the one they had just come in.

She looked over at her mother, “Why are
there no doors in here?” she asked her.

Her mother smiled, “You have to get around
the house by magic” she said.

Abby rolled her eyes, “Why do you have to do
everything with magic here? That’s not easy for someone who just
realized that she has powers you know” she said to her.

Both her mother and Jasmine laughed, “It’s
not really as hard as you think it is” Jasmine said, “Go over to
that wall” she told her pointing to the wall opposite of the one
door.

Abby walked over to it and noticed for the
first time what looked like a blue print of the castle painted onto
the wall. She could see that there was the main foyer, which is
where they were, a library, a few bedrooms, bathrooms, the throne
room, many different balconies, and even a space that said Main
Garden. She looked back over to Jasmine.

“So let me guess, it’s a simple as thinking
of which room you want to go to and wishing you were there” She
said, a little sarcastically.

Jasmine laughed, “You meant that as a joke,
but you are actually completely right.”

Abby’s mouth fell open, “Are you serious?”
she asked both of them.

Jasmine nodded, “Magic is simple, it is just
wishing something to be, and it happens. There are more complicated
things involved of course, but those will be taught to you in time,
for now, we are going to the throne room, join us there” she
said.

Her mother and Jasmine looked at each other
and then they were gone, leaving those little lights around them
she had noticed before.

Abby took a deep breath and said to herself
out loud, “Okay Abby, you can do this.”

She turned back to the painting of the house
and put her hand onto the square that said, Throne Room and as she
stared at it, she thought in her head, I wish I was in this room
now.

Suddenly there was what seemed like
thousands of tiny lights all around her, completely blocking her
vision of the wall, as they were all that she could see. She
watched as they swirled around her making light patterns that were
moving so fast they made her a little dizzy. Then suddenly they all
flew off and she was standing in a large room that was surrounded
in windows, with one single throne sitting in the middle.

Her mother and Jasmine were standing on
either side of the throne smiling.

“Very good sweetheart, you are doing great
so far. This is the throne room, and from here you can see all
around the castle” her mother said pointing to the windows in front
of the throne.

Abby turned and walked to the largest window
and looked out. She saw people right outside of the castle, doing
what she would call normal things. There were women sitting on
benches and talking to one another, men jogging around a large
garden, and there were even children playing games with one
another. She turned back to her mother.

“Are these other gods?” she asked her.

Her mother shook her head, “No, at least not
all of them. Most of them are actually elves. They look like Gods,
or even humans, from up here, but as you get closer they have
pointed ears, much like how Jasmine’s are” she explained.

“There are five gardens around the castle.
That one is the North Gardens, which is mostly for the elves. Then
there are the Western Gardens” she said, pointing to her left.

Abby turned and looked out of the large
window she was pointing at.

“There are mostly fairies in that one, and
the occasional pixie, though they are too small to see from up
here. Then you have the Eastern Gardens” She continued, pointing
back to her right.

“There you will find the unicorns. They are
very shy creatures, but they know those gardens are safe for them.
Only those deemed worthy by the unicorns are even allowed into that
garden. I think there are about three people right now that can get
in, me being one of them” she told her.

Abby looked over at Jasmine, “Can you go in
there?” she asked her.

Jasmine shook her head, “They don’t seem to
like wings very much, and they have never let in any creature that
has them” she told her.

Abby walked over to the window and looked
down at the unicorns, they were exactly like the ones she had seen
in mythology books, pure white, with golden horns. They were the
most beautiful creatures she had ever seen, and she had an
incredible urge to go to their garden, just to touch their white
skin. Her mother brought her out of her daydream.

“Over here is the Southern Gardens” she
said, walking to the window directly behind the throne, putting her
hand on the glass.

“This is the garden that all of the
creatures used to come to together, it is deserted now, as Elysia
has banished so many from the Other World, just for simply talking
to each other there. They are all scared now, but hopefully that
will all change soon” she said with a sad look in her eyes.

Abby looked down at the empty gardens and
felt a deep sadness, and somewhere deep inside of her it felt as
though she could actually feel the garden weeping, missing the
creatures that used to walk upon it. This garden looked different
than the others, all of the flowers were orange, where the other
gardens had flowers of all different colors, and the grass was
unlike anything she had ever seen before.

It was green, like all of the other grass,
but this grass looked as though there were tiny diamonds attached
to ever strand, glittering in the sunlight. The effect was really
quite breathtaking.

Abby turned around and looked back at her
mother, “What is the fifth garden?” she asked her. Her mother
walked over to the throne and touched the back of it, closing her
eyes.

“It is the Main Garden, reserved for the
queen herself. I have never actually been in it, and nobody but the
queen can actually get in there. It has been deserted for so long,
I’m not even sure it’s still there” she told her.

“I do remember my mother telling me about it
when I was a little girl though. She told me that it was more
beautiful than any other garden in this world or any other. She
also told me that it is the only place where you can be completely
connected to nature” she said wistfully.

Abby looked back out the window of the
Southern Gardens, “Do you think I can get in there now?” she asked,
hoping that since it was her birthright, she would be able to.

Her mother shook her head, “Not until you
are crowned, until then you cannot get in, even if you are destined
to be queen” she said.

Jasmine walked over to her, “We are going to
the tallest balcony, so use your magic and meet us there” she
said.