Faerie Wings II: Rosia's Revenge - Part Ten

     Though she had a gut-wrenching feeling that her friends were taken away by her wicked nemesis Rosia, the Top Air faerie refused to believe her horrifying hypothesis was correct. Instead, she continued to fly around her neohome and around the nearby neohomes, desperately hoping to find any faeries that had survived the skirmish.

     "Hey, what are you doing up there?" asked a voice from below.

     Kira looked down and was surprised to see Dark faerie holding onto a Meepit that was wrung in a leash. She immediately recognized her as Delilah. "I was looking for my friends," Kira shouted.

     "Why?" asked Delilah. "Are they nearby? Have they been injured or something?"

     "I don't know!" Kira replied as she flew towards the ground. Once she landed Delilah's Meepit ran towards her and grabbed her skirt. He gave her a smile as he nuzzled his head against her skirt.

     Delilah laughed. "This is my petpet, Charlie."

     "Does he bite?" asked Kira

     "No, he's very gentle," Delilah insisted. "So anyways, why were you flying around that neohome? And why does this street reek of smoke?"

     Kira sighed. "Do you mind if I tell you a little story?"

     "Sure," said Delilah. "I saw a bench a couple blocks from here. We could sit and chat there if you want."

     Kira nodded. "I'd like that."

     ***

     Rosia smiled widely as she held up a fading bottled Light faerie in front of Balthazar. "Can you believe this once was that stupid Top Light girl I hate so much?"

     Balthazar took the bottle and placed it on a shelf between two other fading bottled Light faeries. "It's alright, I suppose."

     Daphne looked variously at the Light Faerie Charm she was holding, which was solely rumbling in her hand. "Hey, Balthazar, why is this charm shaking?"

     "Because it senses a magical imbalance," Balthazar explained. "If even one charm isn't filled with the proper amount of magical energy, than all the other charms will shake and may even explode as a response to the imbalance in power."

     "Then hurry up and fix it!" Rosia scowled at Balthazar.

     Balthazar scowled back. "You have no idea what's going on, do you, Miss Top Dark faerie?"

     Rosia crossed her arms. "Are you threatening me? ME, daughter of the legendary Dark faerie Sombra?"

     "Actually we're all dau–" Daphne began.

     "Do you honestly think I wouldn't have forgotten to capture the Dark faeries?" Balthazar asked Rosia. "Or should I say the TOP Dark faerie?"

     "Oh, stop trying to scare me, you jerk!" Rosia exclaimed.

     Velma walked over from the corner where she was standing and gave Rosia a smile. "I tried to warn you," she said in a voice filled with pleasure. "But you never wanted to listen..."

     "What are you talking about?" Rosia demanded.

     "Your idea to imprison the Top faeries and drain their magical energy was a complete flop because you didn't think things through," Velma explained. "It would have been fine to just imprison your necessities in regular bottled forms. But to actually try to turn them into fading bottled faeries would result in a misbalance of power if you didn't capture ALL of the Top faeries–including yourself!"

     "That's absurd!" Rosia cried. "Why must I sacrifice myself and not use someone else, like... Delilah?"

     Daphne pointed to the flower shaped brooch on Rosia's dress. "Because Delilah isn't a Top Faerie. You are, though."

     Rosia gave her sisters a glare. "So... this is what you two were plotting from the very beginning, huh? You two, and possibly Violet, wanted to trick me into following with my plans in order to turn me into a fading Dark faerie?"

     "That was not our intention at all, Rosia," Velma insisted. "I tried to save your behind while you kept interrupting my explanations. So in the end, this is your entire fault!"

     "Plus, Violet would never think of something this clever," Daphne pointed out. "Besides, she's too busy picking wildflowers outside to care about destroying you."

     Before Rosia could say any thing more, Balthazar came from behind and threw a handful of green glitter at her back. "You traitor!" she cried as a tall glass bottle emerged around her. As it shrank, Rosia continued to bang the bottle with both fists until her face turned blue from exhaustion.

     "Poor little tyrant," Daphne sighed as Balthazar picked up the pink and purple bottle. "So now what?"

     Balthazar placed the bottle on a nearby counter. "Now that we've gotten rid of her, we'll need to stay one step ahead of those two Top faeries I've yet to capture."

     "A step ahead?" asked Velma.

     "Yes," said Balthazar. "For there is a place in Mystery Island where my spell could be reversed: a giant cooking pot owned by an Island faerie named Jhuidah."

     "Oh, yes, I remember hearing about her," said Velma. "But what do you want us to do?"

     "I need the two of you to go to Mystery Island and make sure Jhuidah won't be able to assist anybody," Balthazar explained. "Your younger sister can stay with me while I drain your other sister of her powers."

     "Sounds like a plan," said Daphne. She proofed up a pair of sunglasses and placed them over her eyes. "And now I'm ready for some fun in the island sun!"

     "But are you positive that Kira and Ardore would ever think of going to Mystery Island?" asked Velma. "How would they be able to find your hideout and take any of the fading faeries?"

     Balthazar walked towards the tower window and made a grunting sound. "Because I saw a faerie nearby today. She was hiding in a nearby field, and I'm afraid she may know where I've been hiding."

     ***

     "And that's it. Now they've vanished," said Kira as she finished her story.

     Delilah looked down at her Meepit and scratched its head. Charlie jumped onto her lap and smiled back at his owner. "Wow, that sounds like such an unbelievable story! I mean faeries capturing other faeries?"

     "Well, it happened," Kira sighed.

     "And you don't want to work with Ardore... why?" asked Delilah.

     "Because she's such a snob!" Kira insisted. "And she failed to show up when Illere and Brillare need her most! All she cares about are herself and her clothing store."

     "Are you sure Ardore wouldn't be okay with working alongside you to help free your friend and your classmates?" Delilah wondered. Charlie looked up at Kira, as if he too was asking the same question.

     "Ardore and I have never gotten along," Kira explained. "She's always been ridiculing me, snickering behind my back, or trying to make me mess up my spells in order to laugh about it later. So to be honest, I'd rather fight with my Faeriewood rival Marissa than with the Top Fire faerie."

     "I see," said Delilah. "Well, in that case, I hope you two could find some way to get along before anything else happens."

     "Well, actually," said Kira, "I was wondering if you could help me defeat Rosia and free my friends."

     Delilah gasped. "Why would you want me?"

     "Because you're so tough and I've heard great things about you," Kira insisted. "You're one of the top students at Faeriewood academy, you have lots of friends, and you seem to be just as powerful as Rosia."

     "No, I'm not!" said Delilah. "I mean maybe I am, but I don't think I could ever be as powerful as Ardore or any of your other friends."

     "You are–" Kira began.

     "Kira! Kira!" a voice cried from nearby. "I have some news!"

     Kira was alarmed when she saw Alice the Grey faerie run towards her. Usually Alice would be lurking in the Faerie Woods with all the other Grey faeries she had befriended. To see her usually shy friend run towards her was a strange and surprising, sight. "Alice, what is it? What's wrong?" asked Kira.

     "I saw... I saw him..." Alice panted as she tried to catch her breath.

     Kira scooted over and had Alice sit between her and Delilah. Charlie looked up at Alice with wide eyes before he nuzzled next to his owner. "Can you tell us now?" asked Kira.

     "I saw Balthazar," Alice said in a low voice. She looked down at the ground. "It was an accident, but I know where he is hiding."

     "How did you find him?" asked Delilah.

     "It was actually Hailey who found him," said Alice. "She was wondering around the outskirts of Faerie Woods when she noticed a mutant Lupe entering this tall, stone tower. After she watched him close the tower door, she immediately ran towards me and told me everything she had seen. She was confident that the Lupe she saw was Balthazar!" Alice clutched Kira's hands into her cold palms. "I still remember the coordinates if you want me to take you there now."

     Kira looked doubtful. "Are you sure? It would only be the two of us..." Suddenly she remembered the fight she had with Rosia, and the terrified screams of the Fire and Light faeries she couldn't save. The images of Brillare and Illere, who sacrificed themselves to save the other faeries, haunted her mind. Feeling angry about everything that had happened, Kira got up and squared her shoulders. "Alice, show me the way to Balthazar's tower," she said confidently. "It's time I gave that Lupe a visit."

To be continued...