Fairy Might Preview - Excerpt

Chapter One

Aftermath

The purple mountain loomed overhead, so tall that she could not see the top. Its gel-like surface glistened under the harsh light of the two blazing suns. Shades of blue and violet flashed across its surface, leaving lasting impressions in her vision. A familiar glowing handprint appeared before her, beckoning.

She couldn't hear them, but she felt them — the whispers — gathering around the edges of her mind. They produced an uneasy sensation like the tiny pinpricks of an arm or leg falling asleep. The handprint's glow intensified, as did the pressure building in her head. They wanted her to enter. She hesitated.

A sudden stabbing pain hit from behind her eyes, along with an ear-splitting metallic shriek, then another. The whispers were harsh, insistent. "All right!"

She pressed her hand against the glowing handprint, attempting to ignore the creeping tendrils of dread that spread across her chest. An electric jolt ran up her arm and then — she was floating over a field of ice that stretched as far as she could see. The memories awaited.

Their small blue flickers flashed in and out of existence around her. They hung suspended, evenly spaced in a three-dimensional grid that spread out in all directions. Their sounds, like musical, metallic raindrops, at first brought a delicate sprinkling of notes, then crescendoed to a downpour.

One of the memories broke from formation and flew around her in a blurring path. Another metallic shriek came from the whispers. Another searing jolt hit behind her eyes. Kelly gasped and fell to her knees. The spark flew in close and hovered just in front of her nose. Kelly reached for it, but it shot backwards, then paused just above her head. She heard a faint, high-pitched hum from it as it trembled ever so slightly, like it was considering her. She reached for it again — this time more slowly. The spark's hum became more shrill, then stopped. The memory drifted down, almost daintily, to rest on her fingertip.

Kelly felt an electric zap in her finger, then a sense of vertigo as her surroundings split like shards of glass. They fell away to reveal a group of shadowy figures clustered in a small clearing in a lush, tropical jungle. The figures were ghostly, transparent, and Kelly couldn't make out if they were human or fairy, or something else. It was like the memory stone didn't consider the figures important. Each time she looked at one, it became blurry, smoky, and dissolved away. The stone wanted her to focus on something else. At the edge of the clearing was a rock wall of massive boulders, and a dark entryway.

As soon as she looked at the entryway, her mind's eye zoomed into it with dizzying speed. She whizzed through narrow passageway after narrow passageway, past what must have been centuries of dust, down to a tiny dark room. More ghostly figures bustled around something. A pale yellow glow emanated from a stone pedestal — but she couldn't quite make out the source beyond the figures. Just when she thought about how the figures were blocking her view, they dissolved. She was alone in the room with it — the Key to Embralia. It hovered about six inches above the pedestal, held up by an invisible force.

It looked different than she remembered. Shinier, newer. With intricate glowing lines criss-crossing its surface. She found herself mesmerized by it. She couldn't look away as she walked towards the ancient stone. Its patterns became clearer, and they reminded Kelly of the lines on the motherboard of a computer that she had taken apart once in science class.

When she was mere inches from the artifact, the whispers dropped from her mind. Their weight lifting off of her brought only a short-lived moment of relief. There was — something else in their place — a presence. Clinical, intrusive, it tested the perimeter of her mind, systematically pressing along the edges. It felt clammy. Frigid. Reflexively, Kelly threw up a mental barrier. The pressure subsided, but not for long. It bounced back — stalking, probing. Then pounding and scratching. Kelly felt the tiniest of cracks forming in her mental defenses. It was only a matter of time before it would get in.

* * *

"It worked. She's waking up."

Kelly heard a gravelly voice, familiar. but she couldn't quite place it. It sounded like it was coming through mud. Her head throbbed and she realized that her eyes were squeezed shut.

She felt a sharp poke on the shoulder. "Kelly." A second voice. Also, familiar. Also, distant. She groaned.

"Open your eyes." The first voice said, with an irresistible and chilly air of authority.

She blinked. The fluorescent lights of a hospital room blared down at her, bringing with them an annoying buzz. She slowly came to her senses and looked around. Sitting in the chair by her bed was Marcos Witherings, in his human form, dressed sharply in a gray pinstripe suit. Hovering in the air above her, was Prince Venuto. The harsh lighting made his normally brown skin look yellow, and his copper wings had taken on a muted orange hue.

"Didn't expect to see you two in the same room," she said. "You know, sworn enemies and all?"

Marcos smirked. "Seems your hippocampus is intact."

Venuto shot Marcos a dark look. "We've decided to put aside our differences. For now."

Marcos returned the prince's gaze, looking somewhat amused. After a few moments, Venuto abandoned their staring contest and set down on the bed next to Kelly.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

"Well..." Kelly paused, trying to think back. Her mind felt tired and dusty, like she had to wipe away cobwebs to think.

"Stephanie had just finished zapping every tree on that little island to smithereens with her lightning bolts. We got back in the orb. Then..."

"...Then you started screaming like a maniac and passed out." Marcos said. "You've been in a coma for six days."

"Six days?"

"Glasgow score of 3, according to your mom's boyfriend." Marcos winked.

"Rick's been here? Just great. He and my mom are never going to give me a minute's peace now."

"Don't worry, they went home for the night. Visiting hours ended hours ago."

"Then what are you doing here?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "That's no impediment to me. You should know that."

Of course. Visiting hours being over wouldn't pose any problems for the ever so persuasive and charming frontrunner for the upcoming year's presidential election.

"I figured it had to be the memory stone, to take you down like that," Marcos continued. "So, I convinced Venuto to bring it back to you. It did seem to behave itself when you had it on your person."

Kelly felt her eyebrows shooting to the ceiling. She turned to Venuto. "How did he convince you? You said the stone was too dangerous."

"It seems it is more dangerous when you and it are apart," Venuto said. "You woke up right after it re-absorbed." He pointed to her stomach.

She lifted up her shirt to reveal her belly button, and the familiar abstract bird-shaped "tattoo" that the memory stone appeared as when it was merged with her body.

"Just, don't take it out when you're alone with it," Venuto warned.

"Trust me, I wasn't planning to."

Marcos leaned forward. "Did it show you anything useful?"

The pale yellow glow from the underground ruins flitted back to her awareness. "I saw the Key to Embralia." A lingering impression of the invasive probing returned to the edges of her mind. She shuddered.

"And?" Marcos prompted.

"I'm not sure. It was being excavated by some archeologists or something. Then, I think it tried to break into my mind."

"I thought the memory stone just showed you memories," Venuto said.

"They can be interactive, I guess?" Kelly said. "It isn't very friendly, Marcos." she added. "Your father might have gotten more than he bargained for."

Marcos's shoulders tightened almost imperceptibly at the mention of Miasmos.

"Has he destroyed any other cities while I've been out?" Kelly asked.

Marcos shook his head. "Nothing yet."

Kelly thought back to the destruction of New York by the massive tidal wave. She remembered the looks on Stephanie's and Dmitri's faces when they had found out. Dmitri! Six days trying to adjust after what happened at the mountain. Six days when he'd probably needed her the most.

"How's Dmitri?" she asked.

"Not shooting lightning bolts out of his fingers, if that's what you mean." Marcos replied. "Says he feels the same as before."

She frowned. Why hasn't he told them what he can do?

Marcos seemed to think she had other reasons for looking uncomfortable. "You're blushing." His voice danced playfully. "He's been in here to visit you every day, like a sad little puppy. His mom was discharged yesterday though, so I haven't seen him today."

"Speaking of which, when can I get out of here?" Kelly asked.

Marcos stood up. "Let me go have a word with the nurses."

"Just try not to flirt too hard or one of them might faint." Kelly teased.

He adjusted his tie. "I make no promises."

* * *

"Will you admit it now, Kelly?" Mindy had been ranting from the front passenger seat for the past fifteen minutes. "Acting like your episodes were nothing serious, and then...you were in a coma!"

Kelly tried to tune her mother out.

"Now, now, Mindy, aren't you being a bit hard on her?" Rick chuckled good-naturedly as he drove them along the beltway. Kelly thought she saw him wink at her through the rearview mirror. She rolled her eyes.

Mindy sighed. "You're right, as always." She leaned over and pecked her boyfriend on the cheek.

Kelly groaned and sank down further in her seat. Despite Marcos's charms, it had still taken almost three hours to get Kelly discharged from the hospital. They didn't usually discharge patients in the middle of the night, and it had taken them an hour just to find a doctor who would consider signing off on her release. It had been nearing two a.m. by the time she had finally climbed into Rick's fancy sports car.

The late hour didn't stop her from trying to contact Dmitri, though. She texted him for what must have been the hundredth time. Still no answer.

"Did you hear me, honey?"

Kelly looked up to see her mother looking at her expectantly. She must have just asked her something. "Huh?"

Mindy turned her attention to Rick. "I knew we should have waited until at least tomorrow to bring her home. I haven't even scheduled her first physical therapy appointment yet."

"Physical therapy? Why do I need that?"

"You can lose up to two percent of your muscle mass each day in a coma," Rick piped up.

Curious. Maybe the memory stone prevented that somehow. "I feel fine."

"Nonsense!" Mindy gasped.

"I am fine. I don't need any physical therapy. Besides, I've missed like, an entire week of school."

"You can't go to school, tomorrow, young lady!" Mindy said.

"Sure I can. You don't want me to fall behind, do you?"

Mindy scrunched up her face for a moment like she was thinking about it.

"I agree with your mother," Rick interjected. "Out of the question."

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my father."

"Kelly!" Mindy exclaimed.

"Well, he's not."

"You're right. But, I am concerned for your wellbeing," Rick said. "And as a neurologist, I can't in my professional opinion advise that you go to school tomorrow."

"Your concern is noted, but I will go against medical advice. Give me a waiver to sign or something."

Rick laughed. Mindy glared at him. "What? She's funny."

Kelly heard a ding from her phone — she looked down hopefully. But it was just an email newsletter notification. She navigated to the phone app and tried calling Dmitri's number. No answer. She flung her phone down on the seat beside her in frustration.

"You know, he's probably sleeping," Rick suggested. He winked at her from the rearview mirror again.

"How did you know who I was calling?"

Her mother giggled. "Who else would it be?" Mindy asked. She reached back and patted her daughter's knee. "You know, it's so sweet how he's been taking care of you all week. He sat beside you for hours, just holding your hand and gazing at you adoringly."

Rick nodded. "Ah, young love."

Kelly felt her cheeks growing hot. She was glad that Dmitri cared, of course, but, she didn't exactly like Mindy and Rick going on about it.

* * *

A gentle hum filled the air, along with a blue glow. She was being carried by the bearer stone over a vast expanse of lush vegetation. Something about the topography seemed familiar, and the two alien suns from her desert visions beat down, as bright as ever. But, instead of a cracked red dessert, large tropical trees with leaves as large as school busses parted gently in response to the wind that the orb created as it breezed by just above them.

The whispers were back, tinkling at the edges of her awareness, as if talking amongst themselves. The pace of their ephemeral chattering quickened as the orb descended towards an expanse of metal buildings up ahead — a city. Skyscrapers in all sorts of polygonal shapes except for rectangular glistened with an incandescent rainbow of sun-kissed highlights. Kelly found her awareness being drawn to a short, triangular building.

A second later a sudden jolt brought her inside, to a bright room. It seemed like some kind of scientific laboratory. Shadowy figures bustled about tables, pressing buttons on instruments. A map was displayed on a large screen that took up the entire far wall, with certain regions highlighted. A mountain range, the edge of the ocean. She tried to get a closer look, but the whispers squealed like the brakes on a rusty old car. They didn't want her to look at the map. They wanted her to look at a table in the middle of the room.

The Key to Embralia hovered over it, again suspended by some invisible force. A spotlight shone on the stone as a shadowy scientist poked it with a thin metal rod. This action seemed to activate it somehow. It began to rotate, slowly at first. The glowing lines on its surface blazed brighter. It picked up speed and the lines blurred.

A blinking started on the map near the mountain range. More shadowy scientist figures gathered around the stone. They seemed — excited? But then another flashing light blinked on the map, this time on the other side of the mountains. Then another, way down towards the edge of the opposite end of the map. Various devices beeped all around the room. The stone spun so fast that stray papers lifted up off of the surrounding tables and swirled around it.

The figures scattered back to their stations. They pressed buttons frantically. An alarm blared. The ground shook. The vision jerked Kelly upwards abruptly. She looked down on the building from outside. It crumbled to the ground and into a chasm that was opening up beneath it. The Key to Embralia remained suspended in the open air, spinning and spinning. It got so bright it became painful to look at.

The vision pulled Kelly away again. She found herself close to the ground, eye level with hundreds of panicked animals as they stampeded through the forest, trying to escape. They tumbled over each other. Some fell down and were crushed underfoot in the chaos. Their bones made sickening crunching sounds.

* * *

"Kelly! Kelly!" Her mother was shaking her shoulders. "Kelly! You were screaming bloody murder. I'm calling the doctor!" Mindy had her phone in her hand, poised to follow through with her plan.

"No, wait!"

Mindy hesitated. Kelly rested her hand on her mom's forearm. "I'm fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Kelly noticed the sunlight already peeking in through her window. "What time is it?"

"Just after seven."

Kelly jumped out of bed and grabbed some day clothes from her closet.

Mindy crossed her arms and blocked the doorway.

"Come on, mom, I have to go get changed."

"I thought we talked about this."

"Look, I can move all my limbs just fine, see?" Kelly jumped up and down and waved her arms around in the air.

Mindy didn't reply, but she stepped aside just enough so that Kelly could squeeze by her to go change in the bathroom.

By the time Kelly finished the pancakes her mother insisted she eat, it was almost seven thirty. She threw her book bag together and ran for the metro station. She nearly missed the train.

She finally looked down at her phone as the doors swished closed behind her. Three missed calls from Dmitri. Her heart skipped a beat.

She called him back. No answer. He's probably at school already, she thought. She'd never cared much for the school's "phones off" policy on campus, but this morning it was especially frustrating.

* * *

Kelly didn't spot Dmitri or Stephanie before homeroom, and she couldn't sense either of them over the busy vibrations of the hallway. Six days in a coma and my fairy senses are already getting rusty , she thought glumly.

She sulked as she headed for German class.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wait up!" she heard Tommy Thompson's voice behind her.

He had come up with yet another nickname for her. Surprisingly, she didn't feel annoyed. "Tommy! I'm glad to see you in good spirits."

"Why's that?" he asked as he fell in step beside her.

"Wasn't your sister in New York?"

"Oh, no, she had gone up to Vermont for some concert. Good thing though, since her dorm was destroyed."

"Really?"

"Yep. Swept clear out to sea." He made a sweeping motion with his hand.

"That's awful."

"Yeah. Her roommate didn't make it," he said, looking more somber.

"Gosh. I'm sorry. Did you know them?"

He shook his head. "Listen, my sister will be okay, she's strong like me," he grinned and stepped to the side to let her in the classroom. "Ladies first."

She found herself returning his smile. "Danke schön."

By the time lunch came around, Kelly still hadn't sensed Dmitri. She did, however, sense Stephanie's frenetic energy barreling toward her as soon as she entered the cafeteria.

"Kelly!" Stephanie hugged her friend then stepped back, clasping Kelly's wrists and looking her up and down. "You look... amazing!"

"Thanks?"

They stepped into the serving line.

"Yeah, I mean, Rick was going on about losing two percent of your body mass a day, but you look fine to me."

"I don't think magical comas work the same as regular ones."

Stephanie shrugged, then wrinkled her nose. "Sloppy joes, again?"

Kelly recalled the first time she and Dmitri had eaten lunch together, when they had also served sloppy joes. She looked around, trying to spot him.

"He's not here," Stephanie said. "He was only back one day before he had some epic migraine and ran out in the middle of math. I think the situation with his mother is really taking a toll on him." Stephanie grabbed an apple and a chocolate milk. "Don't look so worried. I'm sure he's fine. Have you talked to him yet?"

"We're playing phone tag. But I'm planning to go see him after school," Kelly said.

"Good. He's been beside himself, you know. It's really cute." Stephanie said.

"So everyone keeps telling me."

They sat down at an empty table in the far corner so Stephanie could fill Kelly in on her activities from the past week. Stephanie excitedly explained how her training with Marcos was going.

"I can shoot icicles now, not just lightning bolts. Oh, and fire too, like a blowtorch."

"Wow."

"I don't even really have to think about it. I just envision what I want to happen, and it happens."

"Must be nice. It took me weeks to get a tiny flame in my palm, remember?"

"I know. Don't feel bad. Marcos says the Embralia power just makes it easy. Oh, and he has an entire gym under his house, with basketball courts, and a pool. That's where we've been training."

"Seems you've finally forgiven him, then?" Kelly asked.

Stephanie had been slow to warm up to Marcos after his break from his father. "You have, haven't you? That should have been enough for me."

"I'm glad to hear that," Kelly said.

"By the way, he said you had some vision with the Key to Embralia being evil?"

"I had another one last night. I'm pretty sure it destroyed the fairies' ancestors' homeworld. Maybe its power isn't so easy to control."

"That could be good for us," Stephanie said.

"How so?"

"If Miasmos can't control it, maybe we'll have a better chance of stopping him from taking over the world."

"If he loses control, there might not be much of a world left to take over."

Stephanie took a massive bite of her sloppy joe. "Well, no use worrying about it just yet. Marcos said Miasmos is going to create just enough chaos so that he can swoop in to 'save the day.' He said he's very patient. And calculating."

Kelly snorted.

"What?"

"Patient and calculating? More like melodramatic and maniacal."

"Those are not mutually exclusive terms."

"True," Kelly admitted.

* * *

Dmitri hadn't replied to her texts, but, she could tell he was at home. She felt his vibrations easily once the train was a few stops away from his neighborhood. They felt like sunlight on a summer's day.

He opened the door just as Kelly raised her hand to ring the doorbell.

"Kelly!" He pulled her in to a tight hug. She felt warm and tingly as he enveloped her in his arms.

When he finally released her, she got a better look at his face. Puffy circles had formed under his piercing blue eyes, and a tension brought his eyebrows together ever so slightly. But he dissimulated with a cheerful smile as he ushered her into the living room. They took a seat on the couch.

He put an arm around her shoulders. "This is nice. So quiet. I wish everyone knew how to put up a mind barrier."

"Is that why you haven't been coming to school?"

He nodded. "I can't tune them out. And trust me, you wouldn't want to know what goes through guys my age's heads in the cafeteria. Or the bathroom."

"Ew!"

He laughed at her reaction. She punched him playfully in the arm. "Well, at least you can have a sense of humor about it," she said.

His smile slowly faded. "Here, it's quieter, but, my mom's not exactly in the best mental place."

"I thought she was doing better? She got discharged from the hospital, right?"

"She got discharged for hospice."

"Oh."

She snuggled in closer to him. "I'm sorry."

"I'll be all right, now that you're here. I was really worried. I couldn't handle it if something happened to my...girlfriend."

He said girlfriend tentatively, like he was unsure if he was allowed to call her that. "I wouldn't expect anything less from my...boyfriend," she said.

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She rested her head on his chest. Hearing his steady heartbeat beneath her made her feel the coziest she had felt in weeks.

"Go ahead, ask me," he said after a few minutes.

She sat back and looked at him suspiciously. "Are you reading my thoughts right now?"

"I don't need to. I know you. You've been dying to ask me since you got here, I can tell."

"Okay. Why on this vast green Earth am I the only one who knows that freaky magical energy bolt gave you the power to read minds?"

"As I seem to recall you saying, if the wrong people were to find out about your psychic powers, bad things could happen. Mine aren't any different."

"Obviously. But why don't Stephanie and Marcos know?"

He stood up and started to absentmindedly pick up his little brother's toys. He put them one by one into a basket in the corner. "You know I was born in Russia, right?"

"What does that have to do anything?"

He tossed her a stuffed alligator. "And that my grandmother saw ghosts."

"I remember."

"Well, they would always take her away in a black van with tinted windows." He put a stuffed cat in the basket.

"They?"

"The government." He said it like it was so obvious that he couldn't believe she had asked.

"Go on."

"I knew when they were about to show up because she would get quiet and distant and barely eat anything for a few days before." He picked up a coloring book and stared down at it like it was very interesting. "After they would bring her back, she'd wake up screaming for weeks."

"That's...horrible."

"The last time, when she came back she was just a shell of herself, like the light had gone out in her eyes. She never said another word. She just wasted away."

"I'm sorry," Kelly said.

His lip trembled as he fought to hold back tears. She went to his side and guided him back to the couch. She squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "Our government wouldn't do that."

He shook his head and looked at her with a combination of disbelief and...could it be...pity? "All governments would do that," he said quietly. He put a finger under her chin and looked into her eyes. "Listen, Kelly, you can't tell Marcos, okay?"

He seemed scared. Really scared. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You can trust him."

He scoffed. "Come on, he's as governmental as it gets. He's going to be the next president!"

"He'd be happy to hear you're so sure he'll be elected."

"You know he will be. And I don't want to be anyone's lab rat."

"He wouldn't let anyone...experiment on you…" Her voice trailed off. She felt an uncomfortable tightness in her chest. Would he? 

"How well do you really know him, anyway?" Dmitri asked.

"Well enough to know he wouldn't do anything like that."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm like, ninety-five, er, eighty — eighty-five percent sure?"

"I wouldn't bet my life on that."

Just then there was a spectacular clatter from the fireplace, and they both jumped. Kelly's fairy friend, Bubbles, along with Stephanie, tumbled out from the entrance to the chimney, leaving a trail of soot as they rolled to a stop at Kelly and Dmitri's feet. Bubbles was in his fully visible form, and Stephanie was fairy-sized, meaning she had used her fairy dust to shrink herself. She flew up into the air with the help of her brown prosthetic wings, dusting herself off.

No sooner had she gotten just a few pats of dust off of her shirt than another spectacular clang ensued from the fireplace. There was a flurry of wings as another fairy flew out of the chimney and crashed right into Stephanie.

"Wutyodoinjusindawaylida?" Beatrix, Bubbles's sister, exclaimed, shaking her wand at Stephanie.

"Sorry, I don't speak supersonic," Stephanie replied.

Beatrix let out another string of indignant syllables that were too rapid for Kelly to make out in her human form. But she was sure Beatrix must have been admonishing Stephanie of the fact that she could in fact understand her, since a fairy spell from a few months prior had given Stephanie the ability to understand Beatrix's lightning fast speech.

Bubbles sneezed. "You do know you're supposed to clean those things, right?" he asked Dmitri and pointed to the fireplace.

"You do know only Santa is supposed to care?" Dmitri replied.

"Santa fanta bo banta nanta," Bubbles mumbled. "Silly human ‘fairy tales!'" He flung his arms up in the air dramatically. Kelly couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you guys ready or are you just going to sit around all afternoon," Bubbles said.

"Ready for what?" Kelly asked.

Stephanie's eyes sparkled. "To take Dmitri to Glendenland."

"I didn't want to see it for the first time without you," Dmitri explained.

"His loyalty can be so annoying sometimes," Stephanie said.

Kelly felt warm and tingly again. "That's so sweet."

* * *

After shrinking Dmitri to fairy size with fairy dust, and fitting him with the prosthetic wings and ear tips that Stephanie had procured for him, they headed off to Glendenland. Just like how it had been for Stephanie when she first tried on her prosthetic wings, he flew with ease. Anyone seeing him fly would think he'd been flying all of his life.

Dmitri's eyes widened with childlike wonder when they flew up to the lion statue beside the river that served as one of the primary entrances to Glendenland.

"Just wait. You ain't seen nothing, yet," Stephanie said. She rubbed the lion statue's nose.

The lion yawned and opened its eyes. "State your business, fairy."

"We request passage into the magnificent domain of his Grace, Thomas Penadas."

"Invalid business, please rephrase."

"Safe passage!" Bubbles reminded Stephanie. "And wise ."

"Oh, right." Stephanie turned back to the lion statue. It had already gone back to sleep. She rubbed its nose again. "We request safe passage into the magnificent domain of his Grace the just, loyal, unwavering, and wise Thomas Penadas."

"Valid business. Welcome to Glendenland." The statue opened its mouth for them to pass through.

They proceeded inside and down to the entrance room, where a podium with an unlabeled map of Glendenland's vast expanse of bubbles stood. Three dark archways, one in front of them, and one on each side of them, revealed nothing in their pitch-black, inactive states.

"Where should we go first?" Bubbles asked.

"The underwater park?" Stephanie suggested.

"The library?" Beatrix said.

"Oooh, I know, the bazaar!" Bubbles exclaimed. Beatrix squealed with delight. "How about it, Dmitri?"

"Uh, sure," he answered, looking a bit taken aback by how excited they all were.

Bubbles pressed down on one of the bubbles on the map. The air in the entryway in front of them wavered, then turned blue like the sky on a cloudless day.

"Whoa," Dmitri commented, impressed.

Beatrix practically shoved him through the portal. They came out into Glendenland's vast open market. Hundreds of fairies ran from stall to stall at ground level, while others flew about the stalls that hung from the ceiling. Vendors shouted out their deals, vying for attention. Floral scents wafted about the air.

Dmitri took it all in. "Are the walls moving, or is it just me?"

"We're in a gigantic bubble," Stephanie explained. "It moves a little with the water currents."

Beatrix shot off to join a cluster of fairies by a stall selling scarves. Bubbles was not far behind her, pulling Stephanie along by the elbow.

"Wait a second, Kelly," Dmitri said.

She hung back as the others went ahead. "What is it?"

"Do all the fairies have mind barriers up, like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't hear any of their thoughts."

"Well, sure, some do. Like Bubbles, and Beatrix. But not all of them. You can't hear any of them?"

"Nope." He squinted. "I can see something, though. Colors."

"You mean their wings?"

"No. I think, maybe their feelings? But in colors. Like, that one," he pointed to a small fairy boy who was throwing a tantrum over a honeycomb that lay splattered on the ground at his feet. "That one is mad, and he's got little red dots all along his borders. And that one," he pointed to a female fairy who knelt beside the child and was talking to him in gentle tones. "She's... amused. I think she's trying not to laugh because her son is real serious about that honeycomb."

"What colors is she?"

"It's like... light blue and lavender ripples."

"So you can hear human thoughts, and see fairy feelings?"

"I think so."

"Guys, what are you doing down there!" Bubbles yelled from above them. "Come see the wands!"

Kelly blinked to allow her eyes to adjust when they entered into the enclosed hanging stall of the wand vendor. The wizened old fairy nodded politely to them from the corner. He had a wooden pipe in his mouth, but it wasn't lit.

Bubbles ran straight to the fancy wands encased in glass. "Ooh, look at that one, Bee!" He grabbed his sister's hand and pointed to a gem-encrusted wand.

It was beautiful, with green emeralds and red rubies forming the handle.

The old wand vendor placed his pipe in his shirt pocket and shuffled over to stand behind the case. "Want to hold it?" he asked Bubbles.

Bubbles looked like he couldn't believe his ears. "Could I?"

The vendor smiled. Kelly had never seen him offer Bubbles the chance to hold one of the expensive wands before. Maybe he was starting to feel sorry for Bubbles at this point, given that Bubbles made a habit of coming in every few days to ogle the wands that were well beyond his price point.

The vendor took the emerald-encrusted wand out and placed it in Bubbles's hands. Bubbles stared down at it, transfixed. "It's lighter than it looks."

"My best ones are," the vendor said with a chuckle. Then he looked curiously at Stephanie.

"Oh my, young lady," he said. "Your aura. Something has changed. You need..." he paused and got a faraway look in his eyes.

"What?" Stephanie asked.

"...I have just the thing. Wait here." He disappeared behind a curtain in the back and they heard what sounded like boxes being dragged around.

"What was that about?" Dmitri asked.

"Stephanie, have you been in here, since, you know…" Kelly asked her friend.

"Nope." Stephanie's eyes widened. "Can he tell I have magic now?" she whispered. "Could he tell I didn't, before?"

"I don't know," Kelly said. Few fairies had strong enough fairy senses to pick up on the fact that Stephanie wasn't a fairy. Being shrunk with fairy dust made her human vibrations more fairy like. Margretta, Glendenland's head healer, Prince Venuto and the king, Thomas, were the only fairies powerful enough in all of Glendenland. Or so Kelly had thought. Then again, maybe the wand vendor had strong enough fairy senses too. Maybe he's just more quiet about his observations, she thought.

The wand vendor reappeared with a narrow wooden box. He handed it to Stephanie.

She opened it. Inside, lay a slender, plain metallic wand. There was something...familiar about it. Kelly leaned over her friend's shoulder to get a closer look. Her skull vibrated with a sudden jumble of musical notes as the memory stone tried to get her attention. She pushed them back down. They became muffled, but didn't entirely disappear.

Kelly could see that the metallic wand was not completely plain — she could just make out some grooves along it — criss-crossing lines reminiscent of a computer's motherboard.

"Wow, it's amazing," Stephanie said.

The wand vendor smiled. "It complements your energy, just as I thought."

"How much is it?" Stephanie asked.

The whispers rushed forth again, clamoring now. Kelly felt her pulse quicken as she struggled to push them out. She felt a sudden urge to take out the memory stone and connect to it. She clenched her fists at her sides. She felt the wand vendor's eyes on her.

"How much?" Stephanie asked him again.

He turned back to Stephanie. "I couldn't possibly charge for that one. It's an heirloom, quite old. I've been waiting for the right...individual to pass it along to."

Kelly noticed how he hadn't said he'd been waiting for right fairy to pass it on to.

"Really? Thank you!"

He turned his attention to Bubbles. "That one, on the other hand, is fifty-five hundred glitterons."

It clearly took all of Bubbles's effort to pry his eyes off of the gem-encrusted wand. "I'll...I'll have to think about it." He handed the wand back, then stared at it longingly as it was secured back in its case.

"What about my friend, here?" Bubbles steered Dmitri by the shoulders over to the vendor. "You got a good wand for him?"

The old fairy sized Dmitri up. Dmitri took a sudden interest in his shoes. "A wand would be no help for his talents."

"You mean for his lack thereof," Stephanie quipped.

But Kelly felt sure that was not what he had meant, not at all.

* * *

When they exited the wand stall, a fairy Kelly knew quite well swooped down to greet them.

"Babe!" he exclaimed as he embraced Stephanie.

"Blaine!" Stephanie planted a sloppy kiss on his lips.

"Please, get a room, guys," Kelly said.

When Stephanie and Blaine were finally finished with their public display of affection, Stephanie turned to Dmitri. "This is my boyfriend, Blaine. Blaine, meet Dmitri."

"Nice to meet you," Dmitri said. "You're the one who helped Kelly in the Ardagali gauntlet, right?"

"That's me. But you want to know something? I go through all of that trouble, almost getting crushed, burnt to a crisp, and chopped in half, and she doesn't even introduce me to her father!"

Kelly laughed. "Come on, you know he ran off right after I met him myself."

"Some ‘urgent business,'" Bubbles chimed in. "He is a prince, after all."

"Busneehedonnohizbuttoxfrodiendocarrot!" Beatrix supplied a rush of syllables so fast that Kelly couldn't process them even in her fairy form. "What... was more important than his daughter?" she said slower, with great effort, in response to Dmitri's confused look. "No good-bye even. So rude!" Then she let out another burst of incoherent syllables and flew off to release her pent up energy.

"He did leave a note," Kelly said, unsure of why she felt compelled to defend her father.

"It does seem kind of rude, though," Dmitri told Kelly.

"Come on, we'd better hurry or we'll miss the game!" Blaine said.

Bubbles, who normally would have been ecstatic at the prospect of a game in the park, paused, staring off into space. "I'll have to meet up with you all at dinner later, my wife beckons."

"She keeps him busy. They're newlyweds. Just back from their honeymoon," Stephanie leaned over to Dmitri and whispered with a wink.

"Oh." Kelly thought Dmitri's cheeks looked a little pinker as they followed Blaine through the maze of hallways leading to the underwater park.

"Great, it hasn't started yet," Blaine said when they got there.

Kelly realized he hadn't meant just an informal game in the park. Bleachers had been set up all along the sides of the park bubble, stretching nearly to the ceiling. The bleachers were packed full of fairies, who all chattered in anticipation.

They followed Blaine up to one of the few remaining empty spots.

"Do you like sports?" Blaine asked Dmitri.

"That depends. What sport is this?"

"Button toss, kind of like your football, Kelly tells me."

Just then there was a flurry of notes on a horn, and Flimsly, the royal announcer, flew into the park. He wore his trademark bright red jacket and white pants.

"Please stand to welcome first advisor to the King, son of our beloved late King Glenden, and superfan of button toss," he winked to the crowd. "The brave and honest Venuto Grand!"

The fairies stood up and looked towards the park's main entrance expectantly.

"Accompanying the prince today is his lovely fianceé, the poised and persistent Petania Villanova."

There were a few approving murmurs fro the crowd at the mention of Petania.

"Fianceé?" Kelly asked.

"Oh yeah, you missed the announcement. The wedding is scheduled for March," Stephanie said.

Venuto walked out, with Petania on his arm. She looked almost like a porcelain doll in a cream-colored, frilly lace dress that exuded an understated elegance against the backdrop of her pale pink wings. She gave a perfect pageant wave to the adoring crowd. Venuto beamed. Kelly had never seen him looking so happy. He deserved it, especially after all he had been through.

But how long will his happiness last? she found herself thinking. There was a mild internal poke between her eyes, accompanied a discordant tone. Were the whispers reacting to her mood? Shut up, already! She thought at them. They responded with an indignant buzzing, like a thousand bees.

Kelly rubbed her temples.

She felt a gentle touch on her forearm. "You okay?" Dmitri asked.

"I'm fine."

"I could take you home, now, if this is all too much."

"That's very noble, but I'm fine. Really."

Flimsly blew an intricate sequence of notes on his horn, and then the opposing sports teams paraded into the park. They shook hands with Venuto and Petania. Kelly recognized Blaine's friend Skip heading one of the teams, and Beatrix's ex boyfriend Jonah leading the other one. Dimpleton's brothers, Wimpleton and Pimpleton, were also playing, one on each team. She pointed out the fairies she knew to Dmitri.

"Wimpleton and Pimpleton?" Dmitri stifled a laugh. "Some names."

"I know, right? Anyways, I'm more friends with their brother, Dimpleton."

"Dimpleton? At least their parents were consistent, I guess."

"You'll like him. If you ever get to meet him. He's always off on ‘assignment.'"

"Sounds mysterious."

The teams were done with their pleasantries and sprang into the air, entering immediately into a rapid frenzy of passes and tackles. Dmitri watched in rapt attention.

"I wish Dominic could see this!" He said.

"Maybe he can, someday. Once he's old enough to keep a secret."

The game was exciting, but before too long, Kelly felt drawn back into her thoughts. She barely registered the triumphant cheers as the first goal was scored. A rush of memories flashed in her mind, not in any discernible order — the harsh sun of the alien desert, the glowing handprint, the first time she'd made a fireball, the last moments of the woman in New York from her visions, fighting off the wisps of emotional pain that Miasmos enjoyed sending at his enemies, Venuto's father using his last bits of strength to blow Miasmos's shield away just long enough to save them. Her own father showing her his mechanical hand, a device he needed thanks to Miasmos cutting off his hand to get to the spy ring.

She looked down at that very ring, which she still wore. She envisioned her father in her mind's eye, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. But the ring's mirror-like surface revealed nothing.

She bristled when she felt a tug at the edge of her consciousness. It took her a few moments to realize that it wasn't anything nefarious. It was just a mental invitation coming her way, barely getting through over the mental barrier she'd put in place to keep Dmitri's mind-reading powers and the whispers at bay.

The invitation was coming from the royal quarters of Glendenland, and brought with it a deeply calming vibration, like the surface of a secluded alpine lake.

I'm sorry to pull you away from your friends, Kelly. Thomas's voice came through soft, but clear. Could you join us for a few moments?

* * *

"Kelly!" The queen, Carmina, rushed out personally from the bubble archway to give her a warm embrace as soon as Kelly rang the chimes. "Come on in!"

Carmina ushered Kelly back to Thomas's study, where he sat behind his stately desk. The head of the royal guard, Milak, sat in one of the two chairs opposite him, sporting his default ‘resting scowl-face,' a description coined by Stephanie that hit the nail on the head.

Milak grunted and gestured for Kelly to sit beside him.

"Did you miss me?" she asked.

He adjusted his eye patch, looking a bit like a disgruntled pirate. "Don't flatter yourself, girlie."

"You did miss me."

The corner of his mouth twitched. One of these days I'll get him to crack a smile, Kelly thought.

Thomas looked her over intently. "You appear no worse for wear."

"You sound surprised," Kelly said.

"The memory stone did captivate you for nearly a week. Maybe not just the memory stone," Thomas said.

"What do you mean?"

"The key stone. You saw it too."

"Right, in a memory."

He sighed. "The visions may not be what they seem."

"Can you be any more cryptic?"

"Venuto is examining the few ancient scrolls we have. Half of them are written in riddles. Like an Ardagali scribe was behind them. I've asked him to show you at your next magic lesson. Maybe you will be able to extract some sense from them."

"I can try." She told them about the wand that the vendor had given Stephanie.

Thomas was quiet for a moment. "The stones weren't the only artifacts the first ones left behind," he finally said.

"Could Stephanie's wand be dangerous?" Kelly asked.

Milak snorted. "Does rain fall from the sky?"

Thomas smiled ruefully. "I'm afraid it could be, Kelly. I would doubt this wand vendor knows exactly what he had in his possession, but I'll have a word with him just in case."

Before she could ask him any follow up questions, Carmina returned, accompanied by Dimpleton. He looked energetic, as always, but his usual giddy cheerfulness was notably subdued.

"Your highness," Dimpleton gave a respectful bow to Thomas. "Hey-O Kelly!". He gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Good tidings?" Thomas asked him.

"Not good tidings, unfortunately," Dimpleton said.

Carmina gave her husband a worried glance as she joined him at his desk, leaning against the edge of his chair and resting a hand on his back.

"You'll have to resume the group power coordination classes," Thomas told Milak. Milak gave a clipped nod.

"Is it the Pixelori?" Kelly asked.

"Yes," Dimpleton said. "I don't know exactly what they're planning, but, they are unified in their support of Miasmos."

"Don't they have, something like four times as many fairies as Glendenland?" Kelly asked.

"One of our soldiers is worth at least three of theirs," Milak said.

"Be that as it may, Milak," Carmina said. "I don't like it, not one bit. What of the other bands?" She asked Dimpleton.

"The Coppertoppins have their heads in the sand, as always. The Xianda also turned us down. And the Bildensterns. The Catanori and Beleni we can count on. But, Riona will only talk to a formal delegation."

Milak scoffed. "Prima donna."

"Oh, how I do love the Rowenian forest at this time of year," Carmina said. She looked to her husband expectantly.

"Don't even think about it," Thomas said.

"But you'll send the most capable of the royal guard to accompany me, I'm sure."

He sighed.

"It's settled then! I'm going to go pack!" She breezed out of the room.

Thomas watched her go, before turning to Milak. "You'll take her, personally. With at least a dozen guards."

Milak rose to leave. "I'll go make preparations."

Dimpleton sat down beside Kelly once Milak had left. "Try not to worry, Kelly. Riona helped us before."

"I know, but, that was before Miasmos had the ‘power of the gods.'"

Dimpleton didn't seem to have an answer for that.

Kelly felt an exuberant rush of energy as Bubbles contacted her mentally. Kelly, you're missing it. They have ant legs! 

Thomas must have noticed her distracted expression. "We've kept you long enough, Kelly. You must get back to your friends. And your, what did Venuto call him. Ah yes, your 'boy toy'?"

Dimpleton laughed. "I don't think that phrase means what you think it means, your Grace."

"Yes, Thomas. Don't ever say that! That is definitely not the right phrase."

"But... Venuto says he's very good at human slang."

Kelly shook her head. "He's horrible at it."

* * *

Kelly realized she was starving by the time she got to the mess hall. She spotted her friends sitting close to the buffet line, their plates piled high with delicacies.

Dmitri chomped down on an ant leg, as if it was a completely normal dietary choice. He seemed to be having a good time. Kelly was not pleased to see him joking with Skip, who was still one of her least favorite fairies. But she was trying to be nice to him out of respect for Blaine. She owed it to him to at least be civil to his friends, after he got her through the gauntlet in one piece.

She grabbed a few grasshopper cutlets, pumpkin stew, and fruit salad and went to join them.

"Hey, Kelly," Skip said. "It's wicked how you were in a coma for six days, yet you are walking around now like it was nothing."

"Thanks."

Dmitri scooted over so she could take the seat next to him.

"Oh, Blaine," Skip went on. "That reminds me. I'm getting a little low on my stash, if you know what I mean."

"Why would my recovery from a coma remind you that you're running low on FSP?" Kelly asked.

Skip was too busy waiting for Blaine's response to answer her.

"My supplier has been a bit...hard to reach lately," Blaine began.

"Can you two not talk business?" Stephanie pouted.

"Sorry, sweets," Blaine said. "Indulge me just this once." He planted a kiss on her cheek before turning back to his associate. "I may not have any more for two weeks or so."

Dmitri watched this exchange curiously.

"Fairy Sense Powder," Stephanie said. "Commonly known as FSP. You have to try it."

"No. You definitely don't have to try it," Kelly said.

"Some kind of drug?" Dmitri asked.

"It's not illegal," Stephanie said.

"Yes, but it is frowned upon," Kelly reminded her friend. She shot an accusatory look at Blaine.

He raised his hands innocently. "Hey, don't hate the player, hate the game."

"Don't take it personally, Blaine." Stephanie said. "She's just sour because it gave her bad visions."

"I wish you would be more careful with it, Stephanie." Kelly said. She realized she had lost her appetite. "I should be getting home."

Dmitri moved to stand up. "I'll take you back."

"No, it's ok. Stay and enjoy yourself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, if you like the ant legs, you won't want to miss the earthworm mousse for dessert."

Bubbles perked up. "How did I miss that?" He dashed for the buffet table.

* * *

When her phone buzzed on the train ride home, Kelly expected it to be her mother. She had texted that she was stopping by Dmitri's, but knowing Mindy, she would be getting worried by now anyway.

Kelly didn't recognize the number he was calling from, but she felt the unmistakable hint of chill air as she picked up her phone.

"Hello, Marcos."

"Kelly, we may have a problem. Change to the blue line and get off at the third stop."

"It's getting late. What about my mother?"

"I told her not to wait up."

"And she was okay with that?"

She heard a raspy chuckle from the other end of the phone.

"Never mind, of course she was okay with it if you told her."

"Quite right. See you soon."