Philothea’s Revelation
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Raven and Philothea continued their flight through the woods until only a tiny remnant of daylight remained. It was around that time that Fae descended through the canopy and alighted on Raven’s shoulder.
“There is my Raven,” she said. “I found my Raven. But where is my Pouli? Where is my sweet Pouli? He is a good boy.”
“You think too much about Pouli,” Raven remarked, looking at her bird with narrowed eyes.
“He’s so funny,” Fae answered. “Ho, ho, ho, he’s a funny thing.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know we are going to go and get him,” Raven said, stroking Fae’s feathers.
“Wait, we are?” Philothea asked. She’d been hoping they could leave Zoe and Pouli back at Bilberry Falls, out of harm’s way.
“Of course! It will be a lot easier to find your dad with Pouli’s help,” Raven explained. “Plus, I don’t want to be the only one risking my life for you.”
“But you just said you weren’t risking your life for me,” Philothea replied.
“I’m not,” Raven confirmed. “And neither are they, because you’ll protect us, little one.”
“Raven!” Philothea exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.
Raven ignored her complaint and looking to Fae asked:
“Is Zeno following us?”
“Zeno is with his shiny men,” Fae explained. “He is such an angry boy.” Her chest puffed up and she bobbed her head as she released a hearty “Ho, ho, ho.”
Raven nodded somewhat impatiently. “That makes sense considering I just stabbed him in the back, but where is he?”
“He is at the temple with his shiny men.”
Philothea’s heart sank when Fae mentioned the temple. It only served to remind her of Keeper Nathan’s betrayal.
“They wrapped him up and gave him some tasty wine,” Fae continued. “He will have a nap, poor thing, and then kill you because he is so, so angry. Poor thing.” She repeated the words, “poor thing” several more times in different tones as if testing the way the words felt on her tongue.
“Well, Thea,” Raven said. “We have as much time now as we ever will. I’ll have a seat here and you go get Pouli.”
She took a seat on a fallen log and stared at Philothea expectantly.
“You’re not coming?” Philothea asked.
“Can’t transport myself that far, remember?” Raven pressed. “Oh, and you should probably get Zoe too or she might kill you before Zeno has the chance. I’ll be waiting.”
Philothea closed her eyes, pictured the falls, and willed herself there. After a moment, she opened her eyes to see that nothing had happened.
Raven was regarding her with one eyebrow raised. “You leaving or enjoying a moment of silent meditation?”
Philothea tried to scowl at her, but ended up choking out a laugh. She closed her eyes and tried again. This time, the rush of falling water and the cool midst on her skin made her aware of her success. She opened her eyes to see Zoe standing a few paces away staring at her with an expressionless face.
“I am going to kill you,” Zoe stated.
“I know,” Philothea beamed, before rushing over and throwing her arms around her.
Pouli, who had been sitting on Zoe’s shoulder, fluttered into the air to avoid getting crushed by Philothea’s arms.
The fact that Zoe didn’t immediately remove Philothea led the latter to believe she had actually been worried and was glad to see her alive.
“What happened?” Zoe demanded, finally freeing herself.
“I’ve got to get you both back to Raven,” Philothea stated. “Then I will explain everything.”
Willing Zoe and Pouli back to Raven’s position was an effortless task, but it took several agonizing minutes and multiple attempts before she was able to move herself.
“Took you long enough,” Raven commented when Philothea finally appeared. She was waiting on the log where Philothea left her, though this time Zoe was sitting beside her and Pouli was sitting on Zoe’s head, calling to Fae that she was a “pretty thing” and a “good girl”.
“I know,” Philothea shrugged. “For some reason, I can’t, or… It’s hard to use magic on myself.”
Raven raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“I know,” Philothea sighed. “When Zoe and I were first escaping Zeno, I tried to change us both into birds. I did it to her, but it didn’t work on me. Then, when I was escaping from my grandfather, you transported everyone away, but I couldn’t transport myself.”
“I’ve never known a fae who couldn’t use magic on herself,” Raven commented.
“I can,” Philothea pressed. “It’s just been difficult.” She rubbed her forehead as she struggled for the words to explain her meaning.
“Remember how you said using magic was like moving your arm?” she tried. “Well, ever since I got my mother’s seal, I’ve been able to feel my ‘arms’ as it were, more and more. Now I can even feel them without the ring. But… when it comes to using magic on myself… I don’t know… that muscle is weaker than the others. Does that make sense?”
“No,” Zoe replied.
“Yes,” Raven said at the exact same time. After shooting Zoe a scowl, Raven continued. “Do you know what I think?” She scrunched her lips thoughtfully. “I think you are too giving.”
“Holy Creator wants us to be giving,” Philothea said.
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Raven shrugged. “I do know that you can’t help anyone if you don’t take care of yourself.”
Philothea scrunched her eyebrows as she tried to fathom Raven’s meaning.
“You have a gentle heart, little one,” Raven clarified. “And it may be that guilt is blocking you from turning your magic inward. We need to work on that.”
While Philothea was still pondering this, Zoe chimed in.
“You might have a point,” she said to Raven. Then to Philothea she added in one monotone breath: “While giving is a critical part of our beliefs, the ability to receive humbly is also important because, you know, without it you can’t receive any gifts from the Holy Creator or whatever.”
Raven stared at her. “Is that a quote from something?”
“Technically it’s a paraphrase,” Zoe explained. “From Zoronophillious’s Book of Generosity.”
Philothea chomped down on her lip in order to contain a laugh. It escaped through her nose making her snort. She knew very little about the works of Zoronophillious because everytime Keeper Ruth said his name, she would explode into a fit of hysteria that was rowdy even for her. The very fact that she was only snorting at the moment and not rolling on the ground clutching her stomach proved that she was slightly more in control of herself than usual.
“Well,” said Raven dryly. “Any man with a name longer than three syllables must know what he’s talking about.”
“Yes,” Zoe agreed. Then she shot Philothea a scowl. “So don’t go zapping me away anywhere next time you’re in trouble!”
“And don’t hold back from using your powers to protect yourself,” Raven added.
“Zoronophillious,” Pouli tried. “Zor-o-no-phil-lious.” He went on to repeat the word several times over in several different voices, then mixed in the sound of Philothea’s laughter.
“Oh-kay,” Philothea breathed. Her face was scarlet, her self-control pushed to the maximum.
They continued walking late into the night. All the while, Pouli and Fae chattered excitedly to each other. How either of them could follow the conversation was a mystery; then again, the conversation didn’t have a lot of intellectual content worth following. They were mostly just complimenting themselves and each other.
“So… you going to tell me what happened?” Zoe asked Philothea. “After you zapped me away?”
Philothea explained as best she could, though the events of that day seemed a blur in her mind.
“So, Zeno is actually your secret brother?” Zoe commented. “Is, like, everyone related to you?”
“I’m not,” Raven helped. “And Pouli, where exactly are we going from here?”
“East!” Pouli answered. He twirled his wings and sang.
“If Thea wants to kill the beast,
Then she must continue east.
East to meet her father grim,
To see what she can do for him!”
The Fables of Para Sympan 