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Kendra woke from her sleep slowly. She could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, soaking in and offering her energy. It was warm, and bright, and she wanted to simply bask in it for just a moment, not wake up and deal with life.
She wasn’t sure why she was so tired, or why the sun felt so energizing, but it was nice. She wanted that nice moment.
Her bed was comfy, the sun was warm, and she felt nice and lazy tired.
She rolled over onto her back and yelped, jolting back to her side at the dull pain. Her eyes snapped open and she twisted to look at her back to find…
Color.
Color that shimmered pink at the far tips and bleeding purple then blue as it neared her back. A deep dark wine red lined it, twining patterns curling through her wings.
Kendra gaped at the colorful figures that came close to her back-
She twisted an arm, reaching over to her back and pressing- it didn’t simply come close to her back. It connected to her back.
They were wings.
She screamed, scrambling out of bed and hitting the floor. She hissed, pushing up and twisting, seeing the wings very much still there.
Her door slammed open.
“Kendra!? What’s-“ Seth came to a stop, gaping at her. “Uhhhh- Kendra-“
Kendra turned wild eyes to Seth, feeling tears starting to burn her eyes.
“Why do I have wings?” Her voice was nearing shrill in her panic, but she couldn’t help it. Where had the wings come from!?
“I don’t- I don’t know!? They weren’t there this morning!”
Kendra opened her mouth, then faltered. “This morning!?”
“You’ve been asleep three days,” he explained, slowly moving forward and eyeing her wings.
“I’ve what!?” she shrieked.
“What’s going on?” asked a voice, grandpa reaching the room.
“Uhhh… Kendra is a fairy,” Seth called back.
Grandpa stopped at the door, much like Seth had, and blinked owlishly at Kendra.
“Oh my.”
“Why do I have wings?” Kendra half pleaded half whined. “I didn’t have wings before-“
She recoiled, feeling something on her back- no not her back- on-
“Oh, you can feel that?”
Seth had touched her wings. She had felt Seth touching her wings.
“I felt that,” Kendra whispered. “How did I feel that-“
“Okay, it’s okay,” Grandpa said, hurrying forward. “Let’s just- let’s go talk to the fairies outside. They might know the answer, right?”
Kendra sniffed, rubbing her arms and feeling her wings droop at her tears. They didn’t droop because she was upset with them, she knew that somehow, an instinct she didn’t have that told her they drooped because she was upset at all.
She hurried down the stairs and around the corner, slipping into the kitchen behind her grandpa, then yelped.
The kitchen door had swung shut on her wings and it hurt. It hurt like she’d slammed her fingers in the door. It hurt like she’d hit her funny bone. It hurt so so much and in a place she wasn’t used to hurting (a place that didn’t exist to hurt the last time she was awake).
“Oh! I’m so sorry-“ her grandpa opened the door and she stumbled away from it, wishing she could cradle her wings like she could her arm or finger or or- “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she managed to bite out, slowly stretching her wings to feel that they were okay.
Then she paused and had to take a second to process that she knew exactly how to stretch them to check if they were okay. That was weird. She’d never had wings, but she already felt like they were a natural part of her.
She supposed, in a strange way, they were, they were just a new natural part of her.
She let her grandpa lead her to the door, her grandma gaping behind them as they went outside and onto the porch.
The garden was, as usual, filled with fairies. Hundreds of fairies, though she could only see a couple dozen immediately. They came in all shapes, all natures, shining and bright and chattering cheerfully-
She blinked as she listened to them talk and listened to them discuss and listened to the words they said. This wasn’t just hearing them chiming like a thousand pure bells, but rather hearing their words and voices and and and-
Kendra could understand them.
“Oh!” a voice chirped right next to her. “You’re awake! Oh, your wings are so pretty, I knew they would be! You’re definitely way prettier than what I heard of the last one though.”
Kendra blinked, turning to look at the fairy beside her. It was a bumblebee like one, with delicate clear wings that fluttered quickly. Her hair was braided, as most fairies tended to have, and a pretty yellow dress with black embroidery clothed her tiny form.
“Thank you,” Kendra said after taking a long moment to turn the words over in her head. “I um… I like your dress, the embroidery is very detailed?”
The fairy preened, swishing her dress, “Oh, this old thing? I just threw it on this morning- so kind of you to notice-“
“She’s awake!”
More fairies came forward, crowding Kendra and gleefully circling her, studying her wings, chiding her hair, criticizing her clothing-
“You poor thing,” bemoaned one shining silver, “You don’t even know how to braid your hair properly do you? We’ll help-“
“Your clothes just won’t do, you need new ones-“
“Your skin definitely needs some cleaning, a spa day is in order-“
“Look at those nails- oh when did you last get them done-“
“Did anyone teach you to grow plants? That’s a necessity-“
Grandpa cleared his throat.
“Really, this is just a shame. Don’t worry dear, we’ll help you-“
“I’m going to help her, I have the best ideas for her clothing-“
“Oooh, don’t forget to have lots of milk! It’s very tasty and you should definitely-“
“-brushing your hair is a necessity, like super vital-“
“Excuse me,” Grandpa said.
The fairies chatter slowly petered off and they peered at Kendra’s grandpa.
“What does he want?” one asked.
“Honestly, can’t he see we’re busy?” another hissed.
“I was just wondering if any of you could explain why Kendra has wings,” Grandpa explained. “Seeing how she didn’t have them three days ago.”
One rolled their eyes, with pretty pink and purple wings that glittered in the sunlight.
“Obviously she was going to get wings, the fairy queen blessed her!”
Kendra blinked once. Then twice. And then promptly turned around and walked inside.
She could not deal with this today.
OO OO OO OO
It wasn’t until the next day that Kendra inched her way outside again. She was still rather overwhelmed, but some pancakes and time with her family helped soothe her. And it helped that that morning Seth had confirmed she looked entirely human before he had the milk, no wings or giant butterfly looks in sight.
“You’re back!” chirped a fairy, smiling brilliantly at Kendra.
Kendra wondered if fairies basked in the sun in order to get that light, or if it was just natural to them.
“I am,” she said with a nervous smile. “I uh… I had some questions?”
Several more fairies fluttered up to her, tittering and circling her.
“What did you need?” asked the pretty silver one from the day before.
Kendra took a deep breath and tried to order her thoughts, she hadn’t had much success yet.
“You said the fairy queen blessed me,” she said after a long moment. “Why?”
The fairies twittered, seeming to find the question funny.
“You drank the potion and joined us coming into battle. You offered up your own blood to strengthen us. Humans don’t do that, not for fairies, not even if it benefits them. Blood is precious.”
Kendra blinked, “So she blessed me with wings for that?”
“Oh no,” giggled the fairy. “She blessed you for that and because you showed great bravery and devotion and who knows what else! And it’s not just a blessing, you’re her… semi-human handmaiden!”
Kendra stared for a long moment before deciding she didn’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole right now.
“Okay, so… cool… I guess… uh- does that mean I have… fairy powers?”
The fairies laughed, one flitting up to circle her head.
“Don’t be silly, you’re fairy kind now, they’re not fairy powers they’re a part of you!”
“So I’m… a human fairy?”
“Fairy kind,” one said. “You’re still sorta human, but you’re also fairy.”
“Okay, so what does that mean for me?” Kendra asked, ignoring the confusing implications.
“Dunno!”
Kendra wanted to scream.
“Can I fly?”
“Probably!”
“How?”
The fairies blinked, sharing confused looks.
“You… flap your wings?”
Kendra wanted to cry.
“How does that work?”
The fairies convened for several minutes, seeming to argue over how to do it. After some time returned and agreed to show Kendra how to fly.
What followed was a dozen different methods of flying as they all promptly forgot what type of wings Kendra had (large butterfly wings) and tried to teach her with their own wing types.
Kendra fell over a lot.
And into the pool.
And into the bushes.
And crashed into several flower beds.
She was covered in leaves and bruises by the end of it all, but she could fly, albeit unsteadily.
OO OO OO OO
Kendra learned during the last few days they stayed that fairies had a whole culture they just… didn’t really tell humans.
The fairies quickly figured out she had no idea of it and were doing their best to teach her as much as physically possible as quickly as possible and were demanding she return the next summer for more lessons when they learned she’d be leaving.
She learned so so much.
For example, she hadn’t realized fairies kept their hair braided. Their magic was in their wings (which was why Kendra now had wings, she had their magic, so she had their wings) and in their hair. As such the hair was bound, to prevent it from falling loose or being stolen.
They spent awhile helping her braid her hair, weaving in all kinds of shiny baubles and flowers. She had them teach her, but her hands were took big to practice on them so she had to practice on herself.
Then of course wings had different beliefs as they believed the shape, the color, the size, and the strength all reflected their magic and nature. Many considered Butterfly wings to be the most powerful in magic, but it resulted in more delicate wings as they could be torn easier than others.
Bee wings were good for warriors though, they allowed strong and steady flight and didn’t get in the way in battle. And those with bee wings tended to be a bit stronger in general as well.
Dragonfly wings were quick and good at maneuvering though, good for messengers. Some believed those fairies were the only ones who should be messengers.
And there were countless wings, from beetle to bat to moths to wasps to ladybugs to more. Kendra’s head felt like it was spinning, remembering the various lore and history and strengths and weaknesses of the various wings.
Of course, the type of wing you have doesn’t necessarily determine what you do, it just gives an idea of what you might be best at. And apparently they were all pretty convinced that Kendra’s magic would be very strong indeed.
She learned a lot about wings while she sat there and practiced braiding her hair. They had so much to share, so much they knew that Kendra didn’t- she wished there were books on the subject but the only way to learn was by listening.
They said they didn’t have the time to even begin to figure out how to guide her magic, for them it was instinct but for her she would have a lot of practice coming. They would think on it, they promised, and when she returned the next summer they would teach her.
She wanted to learn about it, she really wanted to learn how this magic of hers worked. Especially since they were all convinced that her magic would be strong. If it was going to be strong maybe she could prevent what happened this summer from happening again.
She would learn when she came back, and she definitely was coming back. She had so much still to learn, so much to experience- this summer had been scary but… she liked it.
Of course, she still had to function an entire year with wings without any help from the fairies like she got here.
She couldn’t sit in chairs normally anymore, grandpa had provided her with a chair lacking the backrest, so her wings wouldn’t get crushed. She had to be very careful going through doors, so they wouldn’t slam on her wings. She’d knocked over more than a few things by turning and forgetting how much more space her wings took up.
She could make them droop on her back, but it wasn’t a comfortable feeling, like curling in on yourself as much as possible.
The fairies helped some, though they didn’t have to deal with doors or with chairs, so they were a bit lost there. But they helped her learn to stretch her wings out, how to keep them in mind when moving around, how to take care of them.
Just like her hair and her skin, her wings needed to be washed and cared for. The fairies helped her while there, but she wouldn’t be able to do it on her own at home.
Apparently, the fairies often gathered together for washing, helping take care of each other’s hair and wings. It was a community activity, done weekly if not daily.
They did that for Kendra too, she was a lot bigger, but they still did their best to help her clean her wings and make them shine all the brighter. She would have to figure out something when she went home. It felt awkward to ask Seth to help her clean her wings, but she didn’t have many other options.
She asked him, because he would need to learn before they returned home, and he agreed to do it (with a bit of teasing of course). So, he ended up dragged out to learn what to do and had to figure out what tools they had would work… fairies used tools that humans didn’t have to clean their wings.
When that was pointed out the fairies helped make some human sized. She was thankful.
“This is so weird,” Seth declared as they walked back inside, their parents arriving the next day.
“I know,” Kendra said, balancing her new washing supplies in her arms. “I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Well, for now we’ll just… deal. Maybe we can get you some fairy friends to stay at home?”
Kendra considered that idea, maybe some fairies would be willing? But she didn’t think now was a good time to ask, not with their parents coming tomorrow. There would be all kinds of planning needed- and her parents would see them as butterflies.
That was a future problem.
OO OO OO OO
Speaking of future problems, Kendra learned very quickly upon her parents picking them up that she did not like cars anymore. Her wings were smooshed in, and only Seth understanding her situation led to him helping her fold her wings in the most comfortable position, so they wouldn’t ache… too much.
She’d definitely need to do some of stretches the fairies taught her when they arrived home. And at every stop along the way.
It made it hard to focus on the car ride and her parents questions about their time at Fablehaven. She was glad Seth was there, he hogged most of the attention and wove several good lies about how things went.
Kendra didn’t like lying.
She also really didn’t like the car.
Her wings tingled unpleasantly.
OO OO OO OO
Adjusting to life back home was hard, the wings were a struggle.
Seth took to following her through doorways when he could, making sure the door didn’t hit her wings. But he could no longer see them, which was… problematic.
He couldn’t help her clean them if he couldn’t see them.
They called their grandpa and he promised to send them something so Seth could see the wings again, but it would take a few weeks to arrive.
Their house didn’t have bar stools, so her wings had to spread uncomfortably to sit there. And she no longer liked sitting on the couch so much.
The solution for Seth not seeing them didn’t arrive until after the school year arrived, and the school year brought a whole new host of problems.
People would walk right through her wings.
Well, not like her wings were made of smoke, they’d hit them and she’d instinctively move her wings and they’d just keep walking without care.
And that wasn’t taking into account things like the chairs, or people throwing things around the room, or her turning and slamming her wings into things, either knocking them over or just hurting her wings.
Her wings felt bruised by the end of the first day. They felt black and blue by the end of the first week.
And it wasn’t like she could explain; her parents didn’t even know about them and her brother couldn’t see them.
She ached.
OO OO OO OO
Kendra was definitely coming to understand why magical creatures would avoid humans. Even the more humanoid ones. This was a major struggle and she only had Seth to talk to.
School continued to be rough and she’d gained a reputation for sitting in her chairs weirdly at this point. There was also a new problem.
Apparently, she was good enough at flying now for her body to default to it when she got startled.
The first time happened at home and it was a good thing Seth was there, cause he’d had to distract their dad while he tugged her back down to the ground.
Her wings fluttered, aching to stretch, to move, to fly. And Kendra wanted to, but she couldn’t, not here.
Unlike the fairies, she wouldn’t look like a butterfly.
But she dealt with it, she would function fine, she would not go out flying.
OO OO OO OO
It was a relief when Seth got the package from grandpa. It had something called walrus butter in it, and he only needed a little to see her wings.
So, he started tasting the walrus butter and she all but dragged him to help her clean her wings.
She’d been trying clean them on her own, but it was hard, she needed help. Seth was now required to help her.
“It’s so weird seeing you with wings again, I’d almost forgotten how big they are.”
“Seth, please just help me clean them, I feel all… ugh. So much stuff has gotten on them-“
“I am, I am! I’ve got all the stuff, don’t worry, just commenting.”
And Seth did help, he took it very seriously. For all he joked and teased and messed with her, when push came to shove he helped her.
She was thankful, so much was going on with her wings and she didn’t know how to function with them like that. Seth was a life saver.
And her wings felt so much better after a proper cleaning.
“Thanks,” she said. “That helps, a lot.”
Seth preened and made a big deal of it, but she didn’t care. As long as her wings were clean again.
OO OO OO OO
She was slowly adjusting to school, though it was still rough at times. Her grades went back up to her normal level and she got better at letting Seth know when she needed him to run interference.
Her flying incidents got better too, Seth had suggested her flying in her room a bit with him keeping watch to make sure no one saw and it… did help. She settled a bit with it.
She also got better at not knocking things over with her wings, it still happened but she no longer did it all the time. She had to be more careful, but she was better at it.
Seth found some habits of her’s really interesting, she was pretty sure he was keeping a journal of it.
Like apparently when she got angry or defensive her wings spread out, making her look way bigger. The effect was lost on most people, but it did startle Seth a few times.
Or when she was upset her wings would droop and she would curl up.
He also declared that fairies were like cats, in that they loved sunlight. His source? Kendra lazing about whenever she could in the sun. She threw acorns at him but he just cackled and scribbled notes in his journal.
Kendra wasn’t quite sure how she felt being semi-studied by her brother, but his insights did help her figure out stuff about her wings and new… traits.
She also didn’t like people touching her wings, which Kendra could’ve told him. But unless Seth was helping her clean her wings or helping her avoid/recover from doors she didn’t like anyone touching them.
Her wings were… sensitive, touch could feel gentle and kind, or it could feel… like knives against her skin? Like that feeling one got when they skid on carpet, carpet burn? It made her skin crawl and burn and tingle unpleasantly. Except on her wings.
Her wings were supposed to be the source of her magic, same with her hair, so it did make sense that they would be sensitive.
It scared her sometimes, thinking of what could happen to her if someone targeted her wings.
The braids the fairies taught her were meant to shield her from that, but what if they didn’t? What if she worked different being human… ish. She was worried, but also… she’d come to love her wings despite the struggles.
They were pretty, she felt pretty with them. She liked to try and dress to match her wings colors. So, she’d gotten pretty into pink, purple, and blue, with some bonus deep reds. Her friends were a bit confused by her change in style, but she liked it.
Seth teased her that the fairies were rubbing off on her. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but she couldn’t find it in her to be upset.
She liked it, she wondered if the other fairies would like it.
They were planning to head back to Fablehaven as soon school was over, and Kendra was excited. She wanted to talk to the fairies, to learn more… to maybe figure out better ways to take care of her wings.
Seth was excited in the way he always was for an adventure, no matter how much he shouldn’t be going on it.
But both of them were excited.
OO OO OO OO
Kendra stared at the creature, which was certainly not human, which had walked into her classroom.
This wasn’t good.