Writing Prompt: The Queen of Possiblities

The #vssfantasy prompt word is "becoming."

Moonlight bathed the nursery. A silver light diffused through the trees and touched every leaf within. My Guide guided me down the dirt path. My ears caught a hint of harp music, with a soft melody of pipes and flute.The sharp smell of fresh rain and spring dew tickled my nostrils. All of my senses told me I was outside, under the bright full moon. I saw no signage or any directional arrows, but before I knew it, the path ended at a wide, green meadow.

"Where are we?"

The Guide smiled. She tossed her head and her long lavender braid sparkled with glitter. "We are close, please follow me."

 Before I could say a word, she was down the path. Her feet didn't even touch the ground; her white diaphanous robe shifted with the wind. I scrambled to catch up. Unfortunately for me, my Human capabilities were limited in the Fae realm, and I had to use my own two feet. 

"I'm glad you responded to our Call. Some are more susceptible to its tune than others. In any case, your soul resonates well with us. Rest assured, your physical body is safe while you are in the Dream." She chuckled with a hint of apology. "I cannot make you fly like a bird or sing like an siren. Even my powers have limitations."

I shrugged. Limitations were a matter of opinion. Just because they could grant a boon didn't necessary meant they wanted. I knew better than to press the point. 

Hedgerows and bushes divided the meadow into plots. Flowers encircled each plot, and in the center lay a cradle of leaves. I remembered all the Overworld jokes about changelings and cabbage patches. Even the oldest joke had a grain of truth to it. Pinpoints of lights fluttered between the leaves, zipping from bundle to bundle like overzealous nursemaids.

"The night shift is hard at work, I see," the Guide said. "So many Fae creatures are close to realization. When they are fully imagined, they burst forth from the earth that spawned them."

I narrowed my eyes at the nearest bundle. It glowed a brilliant emerald-white, like a bright beacon of nature, and a golden crack appeared in the middle of it. I couldn't see what lay deeper, but the waves of possibility flowed from it. 

"What will that be?"

"No one knows until it is born. It's a nebulous idea that isn't solidified until it happens." She smiled. "Thrilling, isn't it?"

"What if it's dangerous?"

"Dangerous to whom? Itself? Others? By whose standards?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it. What was good, what was bad? An infant didn't know better; it had to be encouraged as it grew, with a sense of morality instilled within it. It was the age-old nature versus nurture theory. Here in the Fae lands, a blank slate absorbed everything around it, right from its birth. In that critical time, it could be 'good' or 'evil', depending on whom you asked.

The Guide looked at me. Her voice was quiet, but there was icy steel within it. Her eyes met mine, and those strange glowing pupils darkened into shadow. "Trust us, we know what we're doing. They are in good hands. If there is a problem, it will be handled swiftly and without hesitation."

Her pleasant tone sent shivers down my spine. The Fae could be as capricious as they could be indulgent, and if you knew better, you didn't doubt their confidence in their ability to do something. If there was a threat, and they said they'd take care of it, it was taken care of, no problem. 

We entered a canopy of greenery, under a bough of white blossoms and...there it was. They were, I corrected myself. A single translucent cocoon of light, so bright that only the outline of the creature inside was visible. A vaguely humanoid shape, larger than the unborn out in the meadow, slender and ethereal, with a pair of elaborate wings enfolding it like a mother's embrace.

 "I didn't know fairies go through metamorphosis like butterflies." 

"Some do. They are becoming our queen. They withdraw into a cocoon and undergo the Change. Then they emerge even more powerful." Her voice was hushed, both out of respect for the entity and fear for what was to come. 

I didn't blame her; the sheer force of its presence made me retreat a step. Like the others, this one was still in stasis, in between dream and reality. Unlike the concept in the meadow, this one had been made with a definite purpose in mind. The Queen, but the title was deceptive, for it encompassed the Light and Dark and every duality and polarity in between. Two dimensions, the Fae and the Overworld, belonging to neither and both.

I stared, fascinated, at the luminous cocoon. What...or who would come out?