"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."
-Haruki Murakami

Lisa was lying on the couch in her mother's house in Idris. She was about to learn the truth about her father, though she wasn't sure she was ready. Her mother's memories flooded into her head.

*

She saw Irina walking around in a dress. Her hair was still completely dark brown and the corners of her mouth pointed up. She was standing at a villa in the middle of a forest. Lisa recognized the place, it was their old house in the park of Wijnegem, before her mother went to live in Idris and she in the Institute.

Irina looked at the lake as if she expected a dolphin to come out at any moment. Suddenly the water of the lake began to glisten, in all the years she'd lived there, she'd never seen anything like it. The water began to bubble like a fountain. A young man came out of the water, her mother ran towards him as if what happened was quite normal. The lake had to be an entrance to the Court of Seelie, the realm of the Fey. This was often a hole in a log - or a pond in a park, but she'd never thought of it that way. Lisa realized with a shock that the boy was a fairy, that could be her father.

She took him in completely. He wore simple trousers and a loose shirt. They were both made of green-colored leaves. His hair was just above his shoulders, white-blond and completely dry, even though he had just come out of the water. His face was crisscrossed with blue stripes. At first, she thought they were tattoos, like elves used to have. Only then did she realize it was blood, she guessed it wasn't from an angry cat.

"Is it time?" Her mother looked at the elf anxiously, he nodded back. Irina visibly swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes. The boy gave her mother a tender kiss on her forehead. They both seemed terrified, Lisa wanted to know why. "Emyr," she whispered, "we can go to Idris, or to the Silent Brothers, they know a solution." Emyr shook his head slightly.

"My love, I only came here to say goodbye to you." His hand brushed her cheek and dried her tears.

"Run," she whispered softly, "please." Another tear rolled down her cheek, she winked it away. Emyr cupped her head and stared over her head.

"They promised me they'd leave you alone if I came along willingly," he said in a shaky voice. Irina pushed him away, she looked as if he had betrayed her. Emyr smiled sadly as he slowly stepped back, towards the lake. Her mother froze as the water bubbled up luminously again. Four Fairy Knights emerged from the lake and appeared to float on the water. All four wore silver armor and a wooden bow.

"Emyr-Y-Coll,' said one of them, 'you are summoned by the Seelie Queen. You will stand trial for your misdeeds." Lisa was startled when her mother drew her seraph blade and walked towards the elves. She had never expected such courage from her. But with a flick of the hand, Emyr made sure the branches of the trees stopped her.

"Take care of the child," he whispered in her direction.

"Which child?" she called back hysterically. She cut the twigs with the sword and was able to tear herself free. But it was already too late, the knights had already taken Emyr and pulled him underwater. Irina screamed and dove into the water, only to surface a few seconds later. The entrance had closed.

*

The image in her vision changed, they were somewhere underground, in a huge throne room. The ceiling appeared to be made of earth, and water ran down the stone walls, collecting in fountains on the floor. There were blossoming trees everywhere, so she wasn't sure if she was outside or inside. Wires of butterflies strung together hung from the ceiling. The butterflies flapped their wings helplessly, but couldn't get away. In the front of the room was a beautiful wooden throne, which resembled a hollowed-out tree. Even though she'd never been there, Lisa knew she was in the middle of Seelie's Court.

On the throne sat a woman with long red hair, the Queen of Seelie. She wore a long satin dress and her hair floated around her head, as if she were in water. The Queen laid defiantly on her throne and ate the fruit brought by her winged pixies. She smirked when Emyr — her father — was dragged in.

"Emyr-Y-Coll," she said solemnly, "I'm glad you acceded to my request."

"I could not refuse you such an offer, M'Lady," he said, but he looked at her with a poisonous look. The queen laughed coldly.

"Only the foolish can be influenced for the sake of their love. You'd rather die than have anything happen to that mortal." Lisa realized that her father had turned himself in to protect her mother. She wanted to know why by the Angel he had been arrested.

"Truth will be revealed, you will soon lose your position and power," he retorted. She threw her plate of fruit on the floor and stepped towards him, her eyes spitting fire.

"You claim to be the rightful owner of the Crown. That you are the eldest son of the previous King of Seelie," she shouted. Lisa was shocked as much as everyone in the room, the Queen never lost her temper and certainly never screamed.

"That's the truth too." Even though the Queen was standing right in front of him, he remained calm. She laughed out loud and all her entourage laughed along. In a quick and coordinated movement, she pulled a dagger from under her dress. She put the blade to Emyr's throat.

"You will pay for those statements, I will have you tortured until you realise how insignificant you really are." Emyr spat blue blood in her direction.

"You don't give me time to show proof because you know it's true." The fairy woman laughed.

"So, you consider yourself the King of Seelie? That's high treason!" She gracefully beckoned one of her subjects and whispered something into their elongated ear. A while later he returned with a crown on a satin pillow. "Then you will have a crown worthy of a king," said the Queen solemnly. Emyr tried to break free from the clutches of the two elf knights, he already saw through her plan. The Queen put on her silk gloves and picked up the crown. The decorations reminded Lisa of deer antlers.

When the Queen put the crown on her father's head, he began to scream. Where the crown touched his skin, it burned. Horrified, Lisa realised that the crown was made of iron, elves couldn't stand that metal. The Queen leaned toward Emyr's face. She whispered so quietly that probably only Emyr could have heard.

"Goodbye brother." Emyr gasped and wanted to lash out at her, but she was already walking back to her throne. His scalp was already completely burned and he kept shouting in a language Lisa couldn't understand. "Stop it, and do it quickly, I've had enough of his screaming." She made a casual gesture and disappeared through a door made of dead butterflies.

One of the fairies knights nocked an arrow and pulled his white bow's string. Lisa screamed, but no one seemed to notice. The knight aimed right at her father's heart, while the whole room waited in suspense. Emyr had closed his eyes and whispered under his breath. Just as the knight released the arrow, he opened his eyes. The arrow sank through his sweater, which now turned purple. Emyr fell forward to the ground and the crown rolled off his bloodied head. The crowd cheered.

*

Lisa felt as if she had passed out. A second later, she woke up in her mother's seat in a jolt.

She looked at her anxiously and asked, "What did you see?" She had no words for what she had seen.

What she did know was that her mother had never told her this. And she probably never would have done it if Lisa hadn't come to her with those stupid wings. She was angry and wanted to return to the Institute of Antwerp. She got up so quickly that she nearly knocked over the couch and climbed the stairs to her old room.

Sobbing, she threw open the door and was shocked at what she saw. Anna and Jonathan were in her room, she'd already forgotten they'd come with her. Anna sat on Lisa's bed and stared at her brother, who really startled her. He was admiring himself in the mirror in one of Lisa's old costumes. It was a pink dress that had become too small for her, it only nearly covered Jonathan's buttocks and his arms didn't fit in it.

"I look like that princess from Mario Bros," he said proudly. Anna gave her an irritated look and seemed to want to say: I tried. Jonathan saw Lisa in the mirror and turned, blushing. Anna looked at her restlessly.

"What happened, do you know where your father is?" Lisa started sobbing again, she sat down next to Anna on her bed. The two exchanged glances and embraced her. Lisa told them what she had seen. "Wait," Anna said confused, "so your father was the king of the Seelie Court!"

"That's what he claimed." Jonathan stared at her with admiration.

"So that's why you have wings and not just pointy ears," he noted, "his fairy blood was much stronger." Lisa didn't want to think about it, she wished she'd never known this.

"I will kill the Queen," she muttered with burning desire. She wants her to pay for what she did to her father.

"The Queen of Seelie is a vixen," Anna determined.

"They knew that ages ago," Jonathan agreed, "but it's a tad hard to kill her."

"Can't we go and tell the Clave, they can-"

Anna shook her head. "What happens in Seelie's Court is none of our business, especially with the Cold Peace going on." Lisa crossed her arms and stubbornly laid down on her bed, even though she knew Anna was right.

Suddenly Lisa thought of something. "What time is it?" She had no idea how long she had been gone.

Anna glanced out the window, where the red sun shone over the city. "Five o'clock?" she guessed. Lisa jumped up.

"We have to go back to the Institute, Moira can't take care of the children forever." It was the best excuse to get out of here.

Anna looked at her questions. "What about your mother?"

"She'll write me an angry letter one day or another." Lisa began to make a Portal rune. Anna told her her mother had done it to protect her, but Lisa wouldn't listen. She pulled Jonathan and Anna through the Portal without looking back.

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Lisa finally knows the truth about her father, did you see this coming?
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