WHAT HAD SHE even just said to me? Was she serious? "I... what?"

"Cybele," Parisa grinned softly now. "I want you to take the new Serpent under your wing. Befriend it, guide it, and show it that this is the safest, most prosperous place to live. Give our Prodigy a reason to care about our people, about us! If we can persuade the Savior to fight in our name instead of join the darkness, then we will be saved! We both know that darkness is coming. The war is stirring the pot, and it won't be long before the Prodigy springs to life. The Prodigy can guide us through the war, through the conflict with Fortis and Athena. We can make it through this fight without having to join a side in the war while reaping all the benefits, and it will be because of you, my beautiful girl!"

How am I the one to have this responsibility?

From my childhood, I remembered being dragged into my study to learn everything there was to learn. I was educated thoroughly in history of all kinds. I learned to write and read in over 13 different languages. I was taught extensively in the importance of rhetoric so I would be able to talk skillfully and persuasively. I was instructed on perfect posture and manners. 

Knowledge was one of my keys to success, and maybe all along Parisa and I were both talking about a different kind of triumph.

Through my years of tutoring, I'd learned all about an age-old tale called the Serpent Prophecy. Told to the world by an ancient dragon named Draco the Great, there would come to be a great warrior with a strong magical power called meraki that could subdue the legions of darkness back into its hiding place of fire and chaos called the Hole in order to save the world.

But, there was a catch. The Serpent Prodigy was able to be swayed, either to join the forces of night children led by the wicked goddess of the night, Noxia, or join the forces of light under the god of truth, Secta.

Parisa was pushing me out of the gates to meet the most dangerous creature in the world, the potential Messiah or the Antichrist. With all my education and instruction, there was no chance that I would be able to change the future laid out by Fate herself. It was impossible. 

I am only me.

That was a true reason to be afraid, and it made me feel as though I was going to faint. There was no way to tell which way the Prodigy would lean, to darkness or light. All of it was up to Fate, and what happened here in the universe of our seven planets was in her hands. I had no power over the future, and I didn't want my hands in any of the Prodigy's life. What if I brought into our home the world's greatest danger? 

"You want me... to persuade the Prodigy... to fight for Opulentia?"

"Yes!" She leapt out of her seat, putting her hands on my shoulders. She leaned in close, making a lump form in my throat as I leaned back. "You see, if the Prodigy is part of Opulentia, it will fight for our city's safety! Don't you want to be responsible for the safety of the Sylph race?"

Or it's possible destruction...

"This doesn't sound like a complete plan, Parisa. What is the ultimate probability of this playing out successfully? You are only riding on the possibility that this Prodigy is brought here first and somehow bonds with me." I began to ramble. I needed to pick out all the possible flaws to this plan, as many as possible, and so far, there were many.

"You are lovely and charming! What else is there not to like about you, Cybele?"

"How is this Prodigy even getting here, to planet Viridis?"

"We don't know where the Prodigy will awaken, but I have friends who will find our savior and bring it home if it is required."

I clenched my fingers into fists. "Maybe we should consult Karmen... she might know more of an outcome..."

"The fish woman? The fish woman!" I jumped in surprise. Parisa was seething, eyes blazing. "What could you possibly need from a woman who sits around a giant oyster? Who claims to see magical apparitions in her pearl? Who drinks salt water and makes guesses through her hallucinations? She only cheats you for spare change in return for a look into her magic pearl before popping you in the eye with it! What have I told you not letting the world cheat you?"

"I've read in countless books that she and her previous mentors are all very wise and gifted, skilled in navigating the Pearl to provide truth to those who call on it for good. They used to be in council with the Serpents of the Hydrian Age, the creators of the world! She signed the Book of Mare, the universe's first recording of the history. They can tell the future and give us answers..." I started, hoping she might listen. 

She educated me on the Book of Mare but was passionately against someone who helped to write it? It was the oldest text in our world, a book where the first mention of the Prodigy appears in record.

Parisa held up a hand, silencing me as she glared in anger. "I do not wish you to teach me things I already know. I do not want to consult Karmen or anyone from her line of business! She won't understand my vision. The Mare people never do." Her eyes darted to me, an eyebrow raised. "Do you not believe you have everything you need here at your disposal?"

"I'm not saying that. It's..."

"What else could you possibly need?" Parisa cried out, pushing herself away from me to circle the room like a hound in desperate search to catch the scent of its prey.

Her shoulders were drooped and rounded, exposing the rigid backbone that protruded down to her waist. There appeared to be a thin layer of anxious sweat dotting her brow line and forehead as she paced in the same concentric circles.

"I've given you everything! The best instructors, an exquisite education, and the most luxurious upbringing here in the fortress. I know several girls who would have died to have your spot, Cybele! I love you and want everything for you. How have I failed you? Oh Fate, how have I failed my poor child so grievously?"

Her last words were sharp like needles, and they pierced their mark. I instantly shivered at the thought of how much I must have pained her. She believed she failed me, and that was something I couldn't let her live with.

"I know you love me." I began, taking her hand in mine. I was now by her side, trying to smile through my worry. Luckily, she was the one that taught me to always wear a mask. "You haven't failed me, Parisa. You gave so much to turn me into the woman I am today, but none of us can't fix everything alone. There is wisdom in counsel. We can make sure our future path is clear and that we have prepared in every way. I will persuade the Prodigy if you wish me too. I love you and will help you protect our home, but we can't do it alone. Let me go to Karmen and ask her myself. I will return and tell you what I learn."

Parisa fell back into her desk chair, resting from her upset. She'd let go of my hand, not bothering to hold it for more than a few moments. She looked shaken from my request, almost as though in fear I'd fly away and never return. How dare I jump out of the nest she seemed to say. Parisa's eyes began to radiate a violent mixture between her red hot fury and unquenchable blue. I felt my throats began to tighten and sweat rise on my palms.

"I know I never failed you but I feel as though you have failed me for wanting to leave. You do not believe in me and the plans I made for our future. You don't trust me, Cybele, even now after 22 years of living under my guidance." She said, glazed eyes staring out of the left window of her office. My stomach sank, weighed down by the epitome of shame that materialized in my heart.

I'd failed her?

If she was so ashamed now, I knew I must have. I had been trying my entire life to please her, to learn all I could. I wanted to be successful in Opulentia, make her proud, and maybe one day rule, even if I wasn't a pureblood Sylph. Maybe the city would accept me anyways. Maybe she would as well. But now? All I felt was shame, doubt that my future would ever exist.

"I trust you! I know you have the best intentions for our future! You always have. I will do as you say! I just thought that Karmen would know the will of Fate..."

"Fate!" She snorted and glared at me, instantly awoken from her daydream playing like a film outside the window. I shuddered at her icy scowl, fear beginning to pump into my veins. "You believe Fate has played you into favor? Cybele, remember who you are! You are a naive little girl with awkward wings that are an eyesore to your image. I am your mother, and I love you dearly, but you are unappreciative of my love. You clearly must have none for me in return. Be realistic, Darling. Fate only calls on figures of importance, like our Serpent. Remember who the figures of importance are! You are just the lie we will use to save our city and nothing more!" Her voice echoed out in the shrillest scream before she rested back into her chair, looking satisfied. She shook her head, "22 years and she's still learned nothing. I'll be the one to pull the strings, and she'll just need to stand there... and look pretty."

I must have been staring as if she'd just produced a dragon from her dress pocket. My mouth was wide open in utter astonishment from the harshness of her words, so out of character from the kind woman who had braided my hair when I was young and kissed my fingers when I cried over my bruises.

I felt as though she had struck me across the face with the back of her hand, and I had the urge to check for blood or a wound for proof of her offense. I felt disowned, like the eyesore she had named me. What had I done to deserve this? What had I done?

It stung even worse when there appeared to be a ghost of a smile dancing lightly on her lips when she looked at my expression. There were dots in my vision and tears in the corners of my eyes preparing for the flood gate to open. It only pained me further when there was no remorse in her eyes at the insults she had just fired. She regretted not a single one of her bullets.

"That's... what you honestly think of me?" It was a plea, a prayer that she would change her answer. It was her chance. Or perhaps I wasn't the one to be giving out second chances.

She sighed and stuck out her bottom lip without remorse. "You've left me no other choice. You may go now."

I left the room mindlessly, my feet moving without the consent of my brain. I didn't know how long I stood there, only knowing I couldn't stay and let her stare at me like a poor spectacle. Perhaps even the servant who had been beaten by his master. I felt the same either way.

I was civilized until the door clicked behind me, my mouth still hanging open and eyes swelled. Then I felt the sole drop fall down my cheek. I couldn't control myself and broke into a frenzy of tears when I'd gotten far enough away so she wouldn't hear my cries. My chest hurt so badly. Maybe she had snapped my heart in two.

This woman was my mother, my rock, my everything. She was the grace I had wanted to model, the beauty I had tried to imitate, and the strength I had always wanted to become. Now she had rejected me in every way and scared my memory forever with no apology. Parisa had left me to cry alone.

Now, all I felt for her was cold, unrelenting anger. It was dark and twisted, tearing at my chest to be released from its rib cage of a prison. It wanted to be fed and it wanted to rule. It terrified me how much malice brewed inside me.

This wasn't who I was. I didn't want to be cruel and vicious. I didn't want revenge like the rage inside tried to make me believe. I wanted love and I wanted it to be mended. I swallowed hard and shoved the dark thoughts away. All I wanted now was to mourn.

I heard my screaming sobs in my ears, only interrupted by my need to draw breath through a runny nose. Everything hurt and all I could feel was the slow ebb of loneliness as it worked its coils into my mind, twisting and distorting everything in its path.

I felt my wings against my shoulders and began to weep louder, running down the hallways. I wanted to go to my room, lock the door and never come out. My wings were an eyesore, just like me. They were ugly and hard and cold. I hated them. They no longer made me feel safe and special even when I was alone.

They made me stick out from the rest; they didn't make me feel like I was important. They made me look like a science experiment, a member of a freak show. I thought back to the way people stared at them, daggers in their eyes and mocking in the hushed tones when my back was turned. I used to be able to stand up against them, knowing that I had a pretty face. Now I couldn't bare the thought of showing my wings to anyone again.

They were my oddity, and they ruined me. I was ugly because of my feathers, and ugly never got you anywhere.

I found my hands wrapped around the door handle of my room and I flung it open before slamming it shut behind me. I wanted to tear my wings off my back, rip them to pieces and shred every feather. I was willing to have them cut out with knifes or saw them off and toss the remains in the fire.

I didn't want to be my own breed; I wanted to be a Sylph.

I was their slave; I was like the fairies. To the world, I was supposed to serve. I was to serve Parisa and do as she pleased. I was to serve the community and never leave. I was to captivate the Serpent and become the biggest lie.

A lie. I can't lie. If I can't lie, how can I become one? Why is everything a lie!

My job for Parisa wasn't to make the Prodigy feel at home in the Fortress. I was supposed to trick and deceive. I was supposed to save the people by lying to the Prodigy. I was supposed to do so without saying another word about it. Slaves never raise their voice against their masters.