Page 84 of Enchanted By a Pirate
"What? No! No! That can't be. I do not believe it. Chris is a good man, an honorable man, he…"
"He's a pirate, Anemone. He's been after our magic since the beginning."
"No, he… he loves me."
"Are you that dense? Think, Anemone. Didn't you see the pirates? Didn't you hear what they said?"
"But… but…" Was she wrong about him?
"I'm sorry to say this, but you betrayed us fairies. You should never have trusted him with our secrets. It's your fault the fairies are disappearing and the pirates are stealing our dust."
"My fault…?" It felt like she was in a trance. Then, as if the shock of this revelation blocked her magic, she lost her wings up high there in the sky. And then she grew and grew until she reached human size. And when she had completely lost her wings, she fell into the depths. She fell and fell. Her heart aching, she cried out, screamed for herself, for the fairies, for her guilt, and for her lost love.
It was her fault and she no longer deserved to be a fairy. Because of her mistake, everything was lost. And as shecontinued to fall, she let out one last desperate cry and lost consciousness as everything around her went black.
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It took some time for Anna to emerge from the fog caused by the flood of memories. The images brought on some profound realizations. Iris and the others were right. It was her fault. It was because of her that the spring had been robbed. By… by… pirates…
It was her last spark of magic that had manipulated her memories and embedded her in a world in which she could forget everything.
"Anemone?"
A soft voice called to her from the shadows and a woman slowly emerged from the blackness. It was Calla in human form.
Anna stood up with difficulty. Everything hurt, whether from the spell or the pain the memories had caused, she didn't know. "Why didn't you tell me the truth when you met me in Linnenberg? Why did you tell me your name was Elena?"
"You were confused. You couldn't remember anything, not even me. I wanted to know if you were still — or rather, again — in love with the captain. When I saw your eyes light up at the mention of him, I didn't dare confide in you."
"But I've been searching for the truth for a long time. For a way to save the fairies and make up for my mistake. I'm even guiltier than Iris and Margerite said. Calla, how am I ever going to make this up to you?"
"By saving the fairies."
Frowning, Anna raised her head. "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Do you know why the pool is empty and not filled with fairy dust?"
Her shoulders sagged further. "The pirates stole everything."
Calla shook her head. "That's not it. When you fell from the sky, you lost faith in yourself. Do you remember? Your wings disintegrated and you turned into a human without magical powers."
Anna nodded. Everything had come back to her.
"I flew after you back then, but I couldn't catch you because you fell so quickly. I feared the worst as I approached the ground, but you weren't there. I searched everywhere for you and couldn't find your body anywhere. But what was just as bad was that the loss of your belief in yourself caused the source to dry up."
"I'm sorry, what? How can that be?"
"Only when you believe in magic can it flow."
Anna frowned again. Was the fairies' magic bound to them? To every single fairy, perhaps? "What are you trying to tell me?"
"You can make up for the mistakes you made back then by really and truly believing in yourself."
A tear formed in her eye but she blinked it away. The burden was heavy, the realization, the fear, the shame… "How am I supposed to do that with all this guilt weighing on me?"
"You've come a long way. You remember being a fairy, you feel it, and you believe it. So, you have to rely on that trust."
How could she rely on that trust and at the same time, her belief in Chris… Was he truly the bad guy? Had he taken advantage of her? She remembered his eyes, his hands, his body on hers. Sorrow threatened to overwhelm her and her heart ached — no, it was bleeding and trying to stop beating. It dripped and melted, dissolving inside her as if it had lost all its purpose. But that wasn't allowed. She had an important task to fulfill that she could not shy away from. If Calla knew a way to make the spring bubble, she had to do everything she could to make it happen.
