Chapter Text
It was a cry of sorrow, born from the echoes of joy. The force of it burst through the open window carried far on the wind to a flower, knocking off petals with its' force. Joy and sorrow swirled as two petals caught the sounds and were torn asunder by it. The breeze of joy carried them, up, up and away through the sky. Through the clouds. Through the second star on the right.
The weight of sorrow bore the petals down, down again to the island. The petals whipped through the crisp white snow and one of them was left behind. The first petal continued past the autumn leaves. It weaved around through budding flower stalks, guided by the gentle breeze. Sent through summer, by a shimmering stream to come to rest on the platform of a large Pixie Dust Tree.
Other fairies gathered around, waiting to see the new fairy appear. A cup of dust was doused over the seed and that's when my consciousness came into being.
I sat up and heard a soft greeting of hellos and I turned my head to look at them. I cocked my head slightly in confusion and replied.
"Hello." Around the tree was about 30 beings, human-like but with wings. They wore all forms of clothing and hairstyles and skin tone and the majority of them were smiling. I smiled before looking around, taking in the platform of the tree and the glow that it gave off. I slowly got to my feet, the dandelion dress swishing around my knees. Then for some reason the others around me began making a commotion and 4 twirls of sparkling dust whirled into one, creating a new fairy. She wore a long, shimmering pale golden dress with large glittering butterfly-like wings. She had blue eyes and pointed ears and her light brown hair was worn in an updo.
"Born of laughter, dressed in cheer. Happiness has brought you here." She smiled and while part of me felt strange at the greeting, another part of me felt welcomed. She was a new face, and yet one that sparked a sense of familiarity in my chest.
"Welcome to Pixie Hollow. I trust you found your way alright?"
I shrugged and smiled. "Well I'm here aren't I?" She chuckled softly and smiled again, and I couldn't help but cock my head once more at it all. The huggy-feely greeting and the familiarity of this fairy, this Queen, puzzled me.
She laughed and swung around behind me. "Now let's see about those wings." She delicately touched the gossamer on my back and I felt them lift with life. There was a collective small gasp from the audience as they rose and I could only look back and admire them. They flared out behind my back with a slight bluish sheen to them. The lower part curved down and was gracefully jagged with an arching seam. The top was split into two: a smaller part at about the middle of the wing that was just as gracefully jagged at the bottom and the upper portion. The upper part rose up gracefully to just above my head, flaring at the end with graceful jagged-ness to adorn it. The Queen smiled unexpectedly at them before offering me her hand, which I refused. Instead I just gazed at them and gave them a flutter or two before rising into the air and spinning, smiling with joy. I landed and looked at the Queen, who nodded to me.
She scooted back, away from me, and a ring of glowing mushrooms surrounded me. Fairies that were gathered began coming up, placing items on the mushrooms and I looked at all of them in evaluation.
A ball of water. A circle of light. A flower. A tornado. A hammer. A snowflake. A leaf. A plate. A piece of coal. A ball of storm. A telescope. A ball of glowing pixie dust. An egg. A paint brush.
I spun around and looked at the Queen. "What are these for?"
"They will help you find your talent, little one."
"And how will that play out?" I asked, not rudely or such. Just out of general curiosity.
"You'll know." That didn't seem like an answer to my question, but I strode towards the objects anyway. I observed them, touched the flower and the tornado. But the lights dimmed, the tornado blew out and the fairies shook their heads so I moved on. I proceeded around the circle, passing each item and group without a sense of connection to each of them. Yet at the same time, a tether in my chest drew me to all of them. I meandered back to the center of the circle and spun around, looking for any difference in any of them. I hoped that I would be drawn to one of them. The mushrooms were still all lit up. The flower was floating, the tornado was spinning.
I spun back to the tornado, sure that it had dissipated when I had walked by. I looked at all of them and realized that all the ones that refused me were glowing again, brighter than they had before.
My wings perked up in tension as the air when still and the objects reacted. All of them floated towards me and began to glow, swirling around me, brighter and brighter, spinning and spinning. Faster and faster, brighter and brighter, until I called a single word.
"Enough!"
The items immediately stopped moving and every fairy gathered stopped talking. I stared at all of the objects that continued to float around me before giving Queen Clarion a desperate look. She cleared her throat and all of the muttered that had started stopped.
"It seems we have a very different fairy indeed."
"One without a talent." Out of the crowd, someone called that. "No specific one anyway." They added and everyone began muttering again. I turned to the Queen and she gazed at me evenly.
"Everyone, meet Serenity. My new apprentice."