Genesta tried her best to conceal her surprise. She tried to make her shocked gape resemble a casual look at she stared at Edgar, who stood in the stone doorway a few feet in front of her, leaning against the frame, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

The eyes that had been sky blue the night before, which were now a dark brown.

Beneath her calm exterior, Genesta's mind was a tempest as she tried to find an explanation for what had happened. The more she thought about all that had happened since the previous morning, the more sense everything seemed to make – including that change of color.

In the cold, deathlike slumber Genesta had been in two nights prior, there had been a sudden spark of light that had illuminated her sleep. She now realized that this must have been the moment when Lolotte had died and Genesta's talisman had come into Rosella's possession. In that brief moment, it was as if Genesta had momentarily been in the same location as her talisman. Somehow she could see the gloomy chamber with Lolotte's body lying pitifully in the middle of that enormous bed, with Rosella standing bravely beside it with a triumphant, yet terrified air gripping her. Then she saw the green-skinned, black-haired hunchback – Edgar, the man that Lolotte had called her son – open the door to the room.

The events leading up to the moment she was witnessing suddenly unrolled within Genesta's mind like an enormous scroll. She knew that Rosella had been imprisoned by Lolotte, who had planned to force her to marry Edgar. Edgar, however, had helped free Rosella, because although he loved her dearly, he knew that because of his misshapen appearance, she could never love him in the same way.

Transforming Edgar into a tall, tawny-haired youth the following morning had probably been an impulsive act on Genesta's part. She was almost delirious with relief at regaining her talisman, and she knew that she owed her life to Edgar as well as Rosella, and that she had to show her thanks to him in some way.

Looking back, she felt that letting Edgar meet Rosella again and changing him into a shape that matched the beauty of his soul was both the best and the worst thing she could have done for him. Moments after confessing his love to her, Rosella had rejected him and vanished. As much as Genesta had tried to comfort him, it was quite apparent that it would be a long time before Edgar could truly smile again.

Genesta, however, had her own internal conflicts to deal with. This was the first time she had met Edgar face-to-face, and even after she changed his shape, there was something unusual about him that Genesta didn't truly acknowledge until she placed a hand on her shoulder and drew it back in surprise. She had always assumed that Edgar was an unfortunate human child that Lolotte had stolen from his parents, an activity that some of the older fairy clans still partook in, but she was shocked to discover that despite his appearance, Edgar wasn't a human at all. As different as he appeared, Genesta was still able to recognize one of her own people.

She was tempted to ask him whether he knew that he was a fairy, but quickly decided against it. The poor boy had been through a lot in a very short time, and she knew it would be best if she left him alone. After telling Edgar that she would do whatever was in her power to help him, she had her attendants make up a room in her castle for him to stay in, then retired to her own chamber.

There she spent a long time in deep contemplation, wondering what the Fates had in store for Edgar, whether he would ever see that human girl again, and most importantly, whether the two of them could possibly stay together. If Edgar ever discovered what he truly was, would he be afraid of Rosella not loving him because he wasn't human? Would Rosella really be able to love him?

Genesta knew that it wasn't uncommon for a fairy's eyes to change color when the paths of their lives became clear. It was rumored that Lolotte's eyes had once been a bright hazel before a lust for power and destruction had turned them a fiery crimson, and Genesta herself remembered that she herself had once had gray-blue eyes as a child, before she became a guardian of all things living on Tamir. Then her eyes became a brilliant grass green, the color of life.

For most of his life, Edgar's eyes had remained a simple blue. It was a blue that was a reflection of a cloudless sky, the sky that mortals looked up to with envious eyes, a place that was said to be the home of many magical creatures, including fairies. It was far above the harsh mountains, cold snows and burning deserts that all those who lived on the earth had to endure. It was a place of freedom and unsoiled beauty…it was also Edgar's heritage.

But now his eyes had turned brown, the color of earth…and earth was made up of dead things: dead leaves, dead wood, dead animals, and stone powdered nearly into oblivion by eons of wind and rain. It was what humans covered their dead with, and they tried their best to keep as much of it off their skin and clothing as possible while they lived.

But…earth was also what plants needed to grow in. Without it, the beautiful green trees and flowers Genesta loved so much wouldn't exist. In a way, earth represented both life and death, the beginning and the end.

But most of all, it represented the decision that Edgar had unknowingly made. It didn't matter whether he found out what he was now. If he ever met Rosella again, he wouldn't take her from her home to whatever paradisiacal realm in the clouds he was from: he would stay with her in the harsh world on the ground that humans had to endure.

Though it would take weeks, months, or even years before circumstances demanded that Edgar make the decision whether he wished to live in the heavenly realms of the sky or the harsh, brutal lands of the earth, his heart had already decided. For those who could divine the meaning in the color of an individual's eyes, the place where he was destined to live out his life was plain as day.

Genesta blinked her eyes and shook her head gently, ending her reverie. Edgar was still standing in the doorway, staring expressionlessly at her. He raised his arms slightly in a half-hearted stretch, then began slowly walking down the hallway that led from the door. He mumbled a greeting as he passed Genesta, who quietly bid him good morning. The golden-haired fairy turned to watch him move away and flicked her wings nervously. Though she knew why Edgar's eyes were no longer the color they had been the day before, she wondered whether it would be wise to explain the whole thing to the poor lad once he beheld his reflection.

Author's Notes:

Well, one day I was wondering what the reason for the change in the color of Edgar's eyes besides a lack of attention to detail by the KQ7 artists...and I came up with this.