Alliance Of Life, Home| The Girl With Wings

Nine: Alliance of Life

Virtue and Faith fled the cabin and followed the blue path back to Firly. Faith held onto her mother’s hand, not wanting to let go. They both smiled and laughed on the way home.

“Mom, you were part of Alliance of Life this whole time?” Faith asked.

“Yes, when I saw your wings. I hid mine,” she then laughed. “Your dad was unhappy when he saw them after death, but now everything made sense to him. Our powers influence people in both life and death. Everyone has traits, but our job is to maintain them. We know there are many people out there just like us.”

“Oooohhhh,” Faith went. She turned jealous. “And how come I can’t hide my wings while you can?”

Virtue laughed again. “The good and virtue qualities can be hidden in anyone.”

“Faith can be concealed, so why can’t I apply that to my wings?”

“Faith can be weak; however, it stays there. It can be replenished. It is never truly hidden.”

“Can you at least teach me how to hide my wings?” Faith asked.

“Why? Do you not like your wings?” Her mother asked in return. Her smile never faded.

Faith paused for a moment. “No. I just want to look normal–”

Her mother cut her off, “Firly noticed who you are, and they accepted you on how you look. I was scared that wouldn’t happen to me. It’s hard having differences. It makes us human. Plus, if they see your wings, they will come to you for help, and that’s your path. Sure, there would be ones that are jealous or hate that you have wings, but that’s their problem. Your wings can’t be removed and go through things, although they look like feathers. Like faith, they can’t be removed that easily. If I could go back in time and let my wings be revealed, you would be settled in earlier.”

Faith and Virtue arrived back in Firly. Virtue said goodbye to her daughter before vanishing into thin air. She went back to her foster home. Her family was relieved and embraced her. When people saw Faith was back, they celebrated. They gave her some time to be cared for back to health. Her captors were shamed and jailed for the rest of their lives. The town’s guards were shocked that she was alive, knowing those who disappeared or were captured for that long didn’t make it. Like faith, Faith endured and always hoped for escape. She was hard to perish.

Firly returned to prosper. Faith gained a reputation and fame for her healing and consoling traits. After her capture, she helped authorities track anyone kidnapped or missing. She helped her family move to a larger and better house, paying for schooling for her brother, sister, and herself. She saw the Alliance of Life often. Guide gave her knowledge, Vigilance and Strength taught her how to fight when needed, Fate provided her company on her trips to other cities, and Virtue ensured her daughter was okay. She knew Faith could handle it, just being a mother.

Three more people or spirits joined the Alliance of Life. They were Expiry, Guerra, and Passion. Expiry made himself known in the alliance when Faith was thirteen. He was a spirit knight riding on a black horse. A skull mask covered half of his face. He could appear anywhere and be in multiple places when he senses death. He couldn’t be seen unless they were in the Alliance of Life. If Faith spotted Expiry in Firly, he told her what they would die from. He didn’t stop her from entering their houses to comfort them before passing.

Guerra was an older woman in a loose, long light gray dress covering her body. She wore a gray rosy veil that covered her hair. Like Expiry, she didn’t have wings. It took Faith a day of flying to see her. She lived far away from cities, living a self-supported life. She appeared before a war, sensing them. She could prevent, cause and finish them. When the alliance found her, they were worried about her devastating power. Guerra also helped repair the damage the wars caused. She never joined a battle. Faith and Fate visited Guerra’s house, which was by a lake. Faith was fifteen at the time. They sat by Guerra as she washed her clothes in a banking tub filled with soap. “A cause often makes a war,” Guerra explained while she scrubbed her clothes. “The cause fills people with emotion. They can try with peace at first, but sadly, they find that fighting is the only way to change. Without them, advances wouldn’t be made, yet people are willing to lose everything and everyone at the cost of it. A prolonged war will make it worse.”

"Why don't you stop the long-lasting wars?" Faith asked.

Guerra stopped and stared at her. "I do that, and our species is unpredictable. Treaties, negotiations, and cease-fires that I implant into human minds get disregarded. Sure, they pause it, but they play it up again. They twist the rules of the treaty, leading to that never-ending cycle. It's a dark, oppressive sensation that never goes away, even during sleep. 'Not over yet, not over yet,' my mind tells me." She pointed to Fate and said, "Fate cannot always bend the rules of the future and reality just to save lives. The harsh teaching is when humans must learn the consequences of their actions. People outside can help, but it is up to them to stop the war."

Faith and Fate only nodded to Guerra’s words. They had never been to war, but no one young deserved to suffer or be dragged into it.

A year later, a wealthy family moved to Firly. Nolan Caldwell, the household's father, became one of Firly’s leaders a month after moving. Faith became friends with them. She met Nolan’s youngest and third daughter, Passion. She was a very beautiful woman with wavy, long brown hair and red eyes. She often wore a dark blue dress. She was nineteen and was hidden from society because locals would believe she was a witch or a vampire. Those who were suspected to be any supernatural creature would be burned by the stake. Therefore, Passion Caldwell was the 'nonexistent' to the world. She was not a vampire, but a soul chosen to be in the Alliance of Life. Passion showed Faith her power. Her power is like a red mist circling her arms like a snake. She could sense what people are passionate about, but she could also create someone’s desire and devotion.

Passion talked to Faith one afternoon in her room. “I know each of my family’s desires in life. Father– leadership, mother– loyalty and popularity, Astrid– love, and Hester– control.” Astrid was the eldest, being twenty-five. Hester was the middle child, older than Passion by one year.

“What do you want, Passion?” Faith asked.

“Want what?” Passion responded. “Nothing.”

“Lies,” Faith playfully called out.

Passion was silent momentarily before replying, “I want to be out and accepted.”

“My father didn’t let me go out due to my wings, Passion. He didn’t know how people would respond to me,” Faith empathized. “They accepted me nicely.”

“You’re a healer, Faith. I don’t heal.”

“You make people have goals and dreams. The stronger their drive to satisfy their goals, the more hope of achieving them.”

Faith goes in thought. She realized the alliance’s abilities could benefit each other. She could keep the people's dreams up if she kept the town’s hope up with heals, beliefs, and conversation. In return, their passion grows stronger. If Passion created a person’s devotion, they would push to succeed, which meant more faith in return. Guide, Virtue, Fate, Expiry, and Guerra also affected Faith. There were ups and bumps occasionally, but the alliance got along great.

Ten: Home

The day after returning from the trip to Baringdale, a town hundred miles away, Faith walked to her old home on her twenty-third birthday with a bouquet of white lilies. Vines and moss grew all over the house. She went to her parents’ graves, which were dug at the back of the house, where the garden was. The garden grew weeds and had been dead long ago. Red flowers sprout around her parents' tombstones. She placed the lilies on each of her parents’ graves. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. “I miss you, momma and papa,” she said softly.

“Faith,” she heard her father’s voice. She opened her eyes and saw her father, Cree, looking down at her behind his grave. She also saw her mother holding her husband’s hand with her wings upon her back. They were their happy, young, and healthy selves. Her lips trembled from the emotion that she carried for all these years. It had been more than a decade since Faith last saw her father.

“Welcome home, Faith. I miss you,” her father said with a smile.

Faith reached out for his hand. She felt a warm, soft touch colliding with hers as he grabbed it. It was like he was alive. Cree was waiting for a long time to see his daughter grow up. "You look beautiful, Faith, even with your wings."

Virtue, or Glimmer, leaned over to Cree's ear and said, "Told you."

"I'm a proud father to see what you've accomplished," streams flow down his face. He was trying to hold his sniffles. "I've wished I could've done better, to see you more, and to let you go out."

Faith still loved Ruthe and Lennox for giving her the home she wanted, where she was looked after and loved, and the company she wanted after losing her parents far too young. It was a ritual and a blessing for Faith to go back and see her mother and father. She would never change that. No, not even if Fate wrote that in his book.

"Dad, you were a good father," Faith said while sniffling. She wiped her tears from her other hand. "I never stopped thinking about you. You and mom were good parents. I'm delighted to see you again. Every moment you've been with us, I cherished." The sniffles broke through, and she couldn't contain them. She sobbed uncontrollably. Her father and mother embraced her.

Her mother sang the same lullaby when Faith was a child:

"You must rest, my child,

The angels will protect you while you sleep.

No need to be afraid, my child,

You can dream of what you'll be.

Lalalay lu la, lalalay lu la-"

She couldn't finish the song without crying herself. Faith felt sleepy, in peace. She shut her eyes and imagined she was a child again. Her mother's song soothed away any nightmares she might have had for the night. She may be an adult, but it didn't matter. Her parents were the start of her journey. There was always a time she would return here.

She was home.