Faerie Wings: The Fate of Kira - Part Four

      Ardore just scoffed. "You do realize that this is your faerie quest, right?" she wondered.

      Kira felt her face grow warm. "I was just hoping for some help, that's all."

      "And you actually expect either one of us to help you?" Ardore erupted into a fit of laughter while Sirena gave Kira an encouraging squeeze.

      "Don't listen to her," Sirena insisted. "She's just jealous that she had to do her own faerie quest by herself. But Illere and I would be happy to help you with yours! Right, Illere?" Illere smiled and nodded.

      "Aww, you guys are the best!" Kira exclaimed, flinging her arms around her new friends. As the girls laughed, Ardore stopped her laughing to give Kira a glare.

      "You two can't be serious," Ardore grumbled. "Remember when you two had to do your own individual quests? Had anybody helped either of you find your tokens?"

      Sirena shook her head. "I didn't need anybody's help with mine," she explained. "All I had to do was swim towards the center of the Healing Springs in order to retrieve my Faerie token."

      "And all I had to do was dig it out of my backyard!" Illere insisted.

      "So you see; there aren't any official rules that say that we can't help one another," Sirena continued, giving Kira a nod. "And besides, Kira would be the only one who would be able to find it. All she would need from us is assistance to help find its location."

      "Whatever," Ardore grumbled.

      "Am I really the only one who can find the Air Faerie Token?" Kira wondered.

      "Yep," said Sirena. "While your token will be visible to everybody else, its location can only be seen by a true Air Faerie, such as yourself!"

      "So why not look at your clue again?" Illere suggested. "Then we can start the hunt!"

      Kira agreed immediately and showed her piece of paper to everybody-even Ardore, who hadn't wanted to help in any way. The four faeries stared at the pastel coloured surface and squinted, hoping to figure the clue out. "Maybe it belongs to a scoop of chocolate-mint ice cream?" Kira suggested.

      "What a stupid idea," said Ardore. "It's obviously some kind of bright green... uh, thing!"

      "And what kind of thing is it, exactly?" asked Sirena.

      Ardore shrugged. "It's not my problem."

      "I think I know what it is!" Illere exclaimed. After peering closer at the picture, Illere nodded confidently and declared, "This must be part of a Pastel Snowflake Tree. I can recognize this shade of green very easily."

      Ardore stared at the paper with disbelief. "A Pastel Snowflake Tree? Are you saying that somewhere in Faerieland is an ugly Pastel Snowflake Tree??" After taking the paper from Kira and examining it more closely, Ardore burned it with a flame and scowled. "How are we supposed to find this stupid tree if neither of us has seen ANY Pastel Snowflake Trees in our entire lives??"

      "Well I've seen plenty of these when Faerieland was in the sky," Illere piped up eagerly.

      "So what you're saying is that a tree just fell from the sky and landed nearby?" asked Kira.

      Illere nodded. "It also means that out of all of us, you're the only one who would be able to see the tree!"

      "But shouldn't the Air Faerie Token be somewhere more 'airy'?" Ardore asked Illere. "Why would Fyora stick it in a tree?"

      "Perhaps she had placed it somewhere before, but had to move it once Faerieland crashed," Sirena suggested. "Anyways, I think we should head out towards the woods so that Kira can find this tree and complete her quest."

      "Are you sure the tree would be in the woods?" asked Kira.

      Illere nodded. "It's the only logical place that a tree can be; even if it's a Pastel Snowflake Tree! And besides, if it had been in Faerie City the whole time, then wouldn't you have seen it before hand?"

      "I guess you're right," Kira said thoughtfully. "Come on, guys, let's go!"

      ***

      "What an idiot," Daphne scoffed as she peered into Velma's crystal ball. "Could she really have been that slow to solve her clue?"

      "We mustn't doubt the mind power of this particular faerie, dear sister," Velma insisted. She placed her hands over the crystal ball and said, "I can see those pesky faeries heading towards the nearby woods. Rosia, is it time to attack?"

      "Yes," said Rosia, sounding pleased. "If we can stop her from finding her token, then her circlet would be even harder to find."

      "And we don't want her to find that circlet, right?" asked Violet. Rosia nodded. "And why is that, exactly?"

      Rosia furrowed her eyebrows. "It's because we don't want that idiotic faerie to summon anymore strong powers. IF she does, then our mission would be depleted and we would have no choice but to start something new, do you understand?"

      "I still can't believe those other three faeries are helping her," Daphne said with surprise. "After all, we had dealt with the others when they were alone, so why should that air-head be any different?"

      "It's because she's a moron and they all know it," Rosia explained. "They know just as much as we do that that Air faerie can't think for herself yet. So guess who would have to stay by her side until she can put all the pieces of the puzzle together?"

      Daphne sighed. "But I hate entourages!" she exclaimed.

      "Well, I suppose that we should try to distract that Kira girl before she does find her token," Velma suggested. "And since you know you more than the rest of us Rosia, would you do the honours of distracting her?"

      Rosia shook her head. "You and Daphne can go. I'll go find the token and Velma can... well, I'll think of a special job for her on my own."

      "Oh goodie, I can't wait!" Violet cheered as she clapped her hands.

      Rosia smirked. "Neither can I."

      ***

      "Hmm, it should be around here," Illere said as she lead Kira through the dense forest.

      "Are you sure you'll be able to find the tree?" asked Kira. "I thought I would be the only one who could see it!"

      "You are," Illere insisted, "but I have a sixth sense that deals with finding invisible trees and plants. I should be able to sense the presence of this particular tree-even though I won't be able to see it."

      Kira groaned as she followed Illere towards a clearing. Suddenly, she saw something dart behind a nearby tree. "Sirena, is that you?" Kira called. The figure peeked from behind the tree, and Kira could see that she was a Grey faerie.

      "You must leave!" she hissed. "Leave right now!"

      Curious about the Grey Faerie, Kira walked towards her as if in a trance. Though she had never seen a single Grey faerie in her entire life, Kira had heard stories about these powerless faeries from her mother. It made her very upset to hear about these faeries being ostracized by other faeries for having no magical abilities of their own.

      "Kira, where are you going?" Illere shouted from behind her. Concerned, Illere followed Kira towards the Grey faerie's hiding place. When both faeries approached the tree, they found the worried faerie sitting on the ground. "Are you okay?" Illere wondered.

      "What's your name?" asked Kira.

      The Grey faerie looked up and said, "My name is Alice. And you," she pointed directly at Kira, "you must get out of here! There is evil here you know; terrible, terrible evil!"

      "What are you talking about?" Illere demanded.

      "I know why you girls are here," Alice said, her eyes turning downcast. "I know where the Pastel Snowflake Tree is. I've seen it many times-"

      "You've actually SEEN it?" Kira gasped. "But how? I thought only I could see it!"

      "Well you still can," Alice insisted, "and so can I. In fact, I found it on the same day I found The Stone Faerie. And as soon as I saw that tree, I knew that Fyora had placed it there for a special purpose since all of the other trees here are green. I also saw Fyora use this spell to help-"

      "You also saw Fyora?" asked Kira.

      Alice nodded and got up. "Now please, let me guide you through the Faerie Forest to your tree. We must leave now, though, in order to outwit the evil."

      "Okay," Kira said firmly, and she followed Alice out of the clearing and into a path filled with tall oak trees that seemed to be as tall as the towers in Faerie City. When they reached yet another clearing, Alice pointed to the Pastel Snowflake Tree that Kira needed to find. "That's incredible!" Kira gasped in amazement. "But where's my Faerie Token?"

      "Inside," said Alice. "All you have to do is reach into the tree and grab the token from within. Then, just pull it out. If you're quick enough, then we can leave before the evil finds us."

To be continued...