The Tale of the Darkest Faerie: Part Three

      Desdemona walked into the glade, and the light of the full moon was cast upon her as she spied the Dark Faerie Sisters hiding in the shadows.

      "Let's duel," Desdemona said coldly, gesturing to her friend. Delia drifted into the shadows. She knew that her place wasn't here, that she was only an outside observer, and that it was Desdemona's fight. Alone.

      Mesmeria, Desiree and Cruella stepped into the glade, all of them in the same second and with the same movements. They raised their wands and night-black magic burst forth from tip, forming a black serpent with three heads. The magic that had been conjured immediately attacked Desdemona.

      The Dark Faerie held out her hand, and the sisters' magical attack vanished. Desdemona's lips moved as the three sisters formed several shadow creatures, one after another. They all attacked the Dark Faerie, but she just waved them away as if they were annoying flies.

      Delia could hear the chanting that Desdemona was doing. She suddenly remembered that she had read it in one of her books. She racked her brain for the book, the text... And there it was! Now she remembered! That was a powerful dark spell that could bind an enemy to a place, frozen in time until the spell wore off. If the user was powerful enough, then the victim would be a statue until the end of eternity. The little dark faerie shuddered as she watched Desdemona's lips form the words that would bring a disaster.

      As before, the little faerie noticed that dark air shimmering around Desdemona. Her eyes turned red, and she started to move her hands. The Dark Faerie Sisters seemed to be frozen, perhaps because of the spell, or maybe it was fear...

      Mesmeria was the first one to break trance. She shouted loudly and snapped her fingers, as if she was expecting something to happen. Delia could felt a cold chill spreading through her body as she ran forward.

      "No!" Desdemona called out as she pointed towards Mesmeria. The unfortunate leader of the trio was frozen, right there. But her two sisters had regained their sense and were now attacking Desdemona with full force.

      The Dark Faerie quickly dodged the attacks, and the duel went on without Mesmeria. Finally Desdemona managed to get enough time to freeze Desiree too. There was only the raspberry-blowing Cruella left.

      With glowing red eyes, Desdemona threw herself forward as Cruella created a magical shield. But the attack was not what the faeries had expected. Instead of using her magic, the Dark Faerie whipped out the oak staff and thwacked Cruella with it. The last one of the three had been defeated.

      "Yay!" Delia called out cheerfully. "You won!" A wind blew through the glade, and that happiness disappeared with it. The two faeries looked around at the zapped trees and the three unconscious faerie sisters.

      "Honorably," Desdemona muttered as she spat on the ground where the Dark Faerie Sisters had been standing.

      Suddenly Delia froze. Footsteps... Someone was coming here! Quickly she grabbed her friend and hid behind a big bush.

      The person that had arrived was none less than the current Queen of the school. She was also part of the council and had official powers, not just the title Queen.

      "It would seem that they had a powerful ally," Desdemona commented as she glared at the Queen. Delia was amazed at her friend's calmness. The little faerie was so nervous, and she had to use all of her discipline just not to bite her nails.

      "Ah, there you are," the Queen said, grabbing Desdemona's staff. Delia realized that they had forgotten about the staff. She cursed herself for being so stupid as they followed the Queen. Now that they were discovered, there wasn't really anything else to do. She remembered a conversation with her friend in which Desdemona had said that it was best to play along with the enemy until the end, where you could knock them out with one hit.

      "You don't need to get involved," Desdemona whispered and pushed Delia away when they entered the school building. She waved gently as the Queen dragged her off. The little faerie felt quite relieved, not having to go to a creepy office and have creepy faeries questioning her. Though she felt a little bit sorry and worried for her friend, she consoled in the thought that Desdemona was kind of invincible, and that she would be all right.

      -

      A few hours later, Desdemona returned with a huge grin on her face. Delia was almost asleep, but she got up despite the screams of her muscles. She had really abused them during the exciting adventure, but it was only right to get up and greet Desdemona. After all, the Dark Faerie had gotten her out of the hassle of getting questioned.

      "So, what happened?" she asked her friend. Desdemona didn't say anything, but her eyes glowed cold and shone like a pair of jewels. Again, Delia was reminded of the Queen and the Darkest Faerie thing that Desdemona had talked about.

      "It begins now," Desdemona said as she toyed with her oak staff.

      "What?" Delia wondered.

      "This whole school... I'll take over it and be the Queen!" the Dark Faerie cried out loudly as she laughed a wicked laugh.

      "Really?" the little faerie asked, filled with admiration.

      "Yeah," Desdemona said. "Slowly, and by using their own tricks, we'll manipulate them and make sure that they join our side..." She went on, making plans about how they would reform the school and spread terror into everyone's hearts. Even though she wasn't the sure if she really wanted to be evil, Delia was very excited. Finally she would be useful!

      "Good. That's it for tonight. You go and gather information, and then we'll see..." Desdemona gave that mischievous grin again, before she pulled the covers over her head and turned of the lighting with just a single clap. "Good night."

      "Good night, Darkest Faerie Queen," Delia whispered as she went to bed.

      It all went pretty well. Delia didn't know how and why, but she was sure that Desdemona had made the current Queen somewhat nervous. The Queen broke down just two weeks after the encounter in the glade, and the students became confused and suspicious of one another.

      "Perfect," Desdemona muttered as she rubbed her hands. The next step was to tear all the possible competitors down. The talented Dark Faerie challenged each of her enemies to the throne and defeated them all with a stunning victory. She gave Delia half the credit for looking up good spells in old books.

      Soon the whole school was filled with fear. The rumor that a Dark Faerie that would appear out of nowhere and make a challenge was flying around. Desdemona looked quite satisfied as she finished off yet another obnoxious opponent.

      "Is that it?" Delia asked. Personally she wondered if this was too easy, but she knew that Desdemona was destined to be the Queen. Perhaps that was what her name meant... Desdemona, the one destined to be...

      It didn't take very long time until a big group of students recognized and claimed that Desdemona would be the new Queen. Soon other faeries followed suit, and finally the whole school was united. It was then that the lone wolf of a Dark Faerie that had encouraged Delia stepped up and agreed.

      The whole ceremony was pompous, and fear was the fuel. Delia found that many faeries who had totally ignored her existence was now trying to be her best friend.

      "My best friend will always be Desdemona," she thought as she watched the faeries pledge their loyalty to the new Queen. "Because she saw me for who I really was..."

      The final part of the whole show was a dark room, in which the Queen had to go to alone. It was a chamber that would test the new Queen's strength. If Desdemona didn't come out after 24 hours, she would be lost forever.

      Delia watched as dark mist surrounded her friend, who was entering the chamber. She asked the faeries around her, but they said that they couldn't see anything special with the new Queen. Just as Delia closed her eyes and begun to pray, she felt something soft land in her hands. The little faerie opened her eyes and immediately recognized the treasured bracelet that Desdemona had worn, even at their first meeting. She looked up to see her friend wave to her, and understood it all. This was a gift, a last farewell to her, if Desdemona didn't make it. She grasped the bracelet tightly as she waved goodbye to her best friend.

      -

      As anticipated, Desdemona was accepted as the Queen. Even though their friendship was powerful, Delia couldn't help noticing that something had changed after the chamber. One day, they had a little chat that Delia would remember for the rest of her life.

      "You know..." Desdemona said thoughtfully.

      "Yeah?"

      "The chamber kind of revealed some things to me," the Queen admitted. "It said that I would be the Darkest Faerie, just as I had wished and perhaps reign over the whole world... But it also said that it was only temporarily, that I should appreciate my friends..."

      "That's odd," Delia commented.

      "Well, I don't have any friends except for you," Desdemona said. "They are all trying to be nice, but they just want a little bit of the glory..." A mist drew across her eyes as she muttered darkly. "And I'll be overthrown, but then..."

      "Yes? What happens then?" Delia's curiosity was stirred. She suspected that the words that her friend was speaking were a prophecy.

      "It just told me to remember my friends." Suddenly the Queen looked her friend straight in the eye. "You believe me, don't you?" she asked in an almost childish and concerned tone.

      "Of course I do," Delia said.

      The Dark Faerie's face softened. She smiled before she grasped her friend's hand tightly.

      "Delia... Promise me, promise me that you won't forget me..."

      "Of course not," the little faerie said.

      "Even when the world has forgotten my name, don't you forget it." Desdemona squeezed her friend's hand, like Delia had done so many years ago. "Please promise me this too... If I should ever be overthrown, unreachable and caught, please help me... Please be my friend and help me."

      For the first time, Delia saw something familiar in her friend's eyes. The coldness and the mystery was all gone, instead, there was that close friend she had always wanted. Touched, the little faerie nodded solemnly.

      "I promise," she said. "I promise I won't forget your name and your story. If you need help, I'll fly over and help you the best I can."

      "It may be glorious now, but there is a future too," Desdemona whispered as she hugged her friend. "Thank you." The little faerie felt honored, even more when her friend had given her the bracelet.

      "I promise... I won't forget!"

      -

      The dark faerie wrote the last words, and put down the quill. She looked outside and sighed. Yes, she had kept her promise. Now that her memory was growing dimmer day by day, she had to write it down. The whole story, the truth... She shook her head, somewhat satisfied. It was a burden off her shoulders, this story that she had written down. It was good now. No one would misunderstand anymore...

      Then again, she had another mission to accomplish. She took out the fancy stationery and got thinking again. Finally she managed to make it sound pretty good, and then she applied the spell. The dark faerie took out a golden bracelet, whispered some words and touched the letter. There. Now it was done. She put it in an envelope and made several copies. Tired, she yawned and stretched. The act of sending the letters would have to wait until tomorrow.

      After all, there was time. The future would be there. Now that she had fulfilled both of her promises, she could finally get some rest. The dark faerie named Delia took a last look at her notebook before she went to bed. It wasn't over yet. No... Not at all. It had only begun... The return of the Darkest Faerie.

The End