Faerie Wings II: Rosia's Revenge - Part Three

     "This is much more fun than being cooped up in Ms. Aquina's class all day!" said Sirena. "Am I right, girls?"

     "Yes!" the other Water faeries replied.

     Sirena smiled as her classmates continued their splashing game. She sighed calmly as she swam around the peaceful, blue lake known as Faerie Lake. The lake was located on the outskirts of Faerie City, right beside the Faerie Woods. The round lake had crystal-clear waters and it was popular meeting place for Water faeries who wanted to swim and be with their own kind. As her light blue tail splashed water onto as nearby classmate, Sirena grinned and looked up at the beautiful blue sky above. Lying on her back, she could see the white clouds glide gracefully as the slightest breeze pushed them onwards.

     To her, the lake was a peaceful place full of tranquility and natural beauty.

     ***

     As soon as she poofed herself to Faerie Lake, Daphne looked at the clear water and smiled when she saw a familiar Water faerie gliding gracefully around the lake.

     "Of course she'd be here," the Dark faerie muttered as she pulled out a glass bottle from the pocket of her jeans. She looked at the green glitter and shook the bottle, confused as to how this new product would work. Before she could do anything, Daphne noticed a familiar Air faerie flying over to a familiar Water faerie. She immediately hid behind a tree, peering ever-so-slightly around to see what was going on.

     "Hey Sirena!" said Kira. "Brillare wanted to give you this book you lent her."

     Sirena took the book from her friend and smiled. "Thanks so much!"

     "What are you guys doing?" asked Kira. She looked over at the other Water faeries and raised an eyebrow.

     "Oh, we're just taking a break from our studies," said Sirena. Want to come in and swim with us?"

     Kira shook her head. "No thanks. I have to go home and fetch some groceries for dinner."

     "Okay, have fun!" said Sirena. After waving goodbye and watching Kira fly away, the Top Water faerie continued to swim around the lake, not minding that her classmates were still splashing each other, sometimes spilling some onto her.

     As soon as Daphne saw Kira leave the lake, she crept out from her hiding spot and pulled the lid off her glass container. Still curious, she hastily placed a couple specks of glitter in Faerie Lake and watched as the sparkles seeped into the lake and turned the water into a shade of light green. "I really hope this works," Daphne said as she crossed her fingers.

     "Hey, what's going on with the lake?" a Water faerie asked Sirena. "Is the lake polluted?"

     Sirena emerged herself from underwater and gasped at the lake's complexion. "What's going on?" she mumbled. Remembering that the Water faerie token was still wrung around her neck, Sirena wiggled her fingers over the water and said, "Clearisis!" hoping that the water would magically clear itself up. But when the lake didn't change colour, she immediately instructed her students to leave the lake, hoping she could find a way to change the lake back to normal.

     "Oh no, I'm trapped!" a student cried.

     Sirena turned around and saw that all of her classmates seemed trapped in tall glass cages that were drifting them to the center of the lake. Just as she was going to swim towards her imprisoned friends, Sirena realized that she too was trapped in a giant container that was just tall enough to reach over her head and wide enough for her to spread her arms apart. The bottle had already been filled to her waist with the lake's murky green water. As the container became more and more materialized and real, Sirena could see that she had been imprisoned in a life-sized glass bottle that was slowly beginning to shrink with her inside. As the container shrank to the size of a perfume bottle, Sirena and the other Water faeries banged their bottles loudly when all eleven bottles flew over to Daphne, who smiled at the success of the spell.

     "Oh, so this is how this tacky glitter works," Daphne said with glee. She looked into Sirena's bottle and smiled widely as the Water faerie banged the glass with her fists, her screams silenced by the bottle. "Rosia and the others will be very pleased," Daphne said as she poofed herself away from Faerie Lake, whose waters had now turned back to its original blue colour.

     "I must warn Kira," a low voice muttered from a nearby bush.

     ***

     As Kira navigated through the main floor of Faeriewood Academy for Young Faeries the next morning, she noticed a group of Dark faeries hanging around the golden staircase that lead to the second floor. Is that Rosia? she wondered as she eyed a tall Dark faerie. The faerie was just as tall as she was, and her short purple hair made her almost identical to the Top Dark faerie of Faerieland - and also Kira's dangerous rival. It wasn't until she heard another faerie refer to her as 'Delilah' that Kira took a deep breath and walked around the group and up the stairs. Though she was the same type of faerie as Rosia, Kira had heard that Delilah wasn't as wicked as her and that she had greatly enjoyed mentoring her classmates.

     If the Top faerie positions weren't hereditarily inherited, then I'm sure Delilah would of made a much better Top Dark faerie than Rosia! Kira thought as she flew up the stairs. As soon as she landed on the second floor, she began to run down the hallway until she saw a tall woman with bright pink hair fashioned in a bun. Kira immediately stopped and placed a hand by her face as she walked past Miss Rose, the headmistress of Faeriewood Academy. Miss Rose had very strict rules for the academy, and one of her strictest rules was the intolerance of running, or flying, in the halls.

     That was a close one, Kira thought as she passed the headmistress, carefully avoiding her stern stare that lay behind a pair of thick round lenses. Just as she had finally reached Ms. Aerial's classroom, she noticed a piece of paper was taped to the door. Curious, Kira pulled the paper off and read it, its message written in scraggly writing, as if written in a hurry:

     Dear Kira,

     I have something really important to tell you. I apologize that I cannot speak with you right now as I'm told that you have classes to attend, so would you meet me in the Faerie Woods? It would also be great if you bring one of your other faeries friends-preferably the Earth and Light faeries. You can leave the Fire one behind as she scares me.

     Please come as soon as you can, and meet me at the clearing.

     Your Grey faerie friend,

     Alice

     "I hope Alice is okay," Kira said, tucking the letter into her dress pocket. After opening the door and entering the classroom, she could feel that something terrible may have happened to the shy Grey faerie she had befriended in Faerie Woods. Had Alice witnessed any more evil in the Faerie Woods? As she entered the classroom, Kira felt her mind wander in a different direction as she recounted Alice's mysterious letter.

     "Well look who has finally shown up," Ms. Aerial crowed, her round spectacles showing off her glare. "Miss Kira, how grave it is for you to be late in your second day of class. Now please sit down while I continue my lecture."

     "But I just woke up lat-" Kira began.

     Ms. Aerial gave her a glare and said, "Sit down or I'll give you detention!"

     Kira blinked and immediately sat down at her desk while her classmates stifled giggles with their hands. Ms. Aerial turned to the blackboard and continued to talk about cloud formation.

     Marissa raised an eyebrow at her, as if thinking: "Were you really lost, or are you just stupid?"

     As soon as Ms. Aerial finished her lecture, she pointed to a chalk drawing of a cloud on the blackboard and said, "Now to wrap up our unit on clouds, I have planned a short exam that will cover the basic units we have covered in class. Now this test will be worth-"

     A short haired girl raised her hand. "Can we go outside instead?" she asked. "Because I think-"

     Marissa interrupted with a loud laugh. "Of course we're not going outside, Carrie! I'm sure Miss Aerial would rather draw more ugly clouds on the blackboard than show us any REAL magic."

     As the rest of the class laughed, Carrie sulked and slowly slid down her seat.

     Kira gave her a glare. But then she had an idea pop into her head. Smiling, she stood up and said in a confident tone, "You know what; I think Carrie has a point. I think it would be better for us to be more exposed to nature rather than reading it in your textbooks. So how about we all go outside to the Faerie Woods and... uh, practice making slight breezes by using our fingertips. After that, were can have a picnic and study the clouds... if it's alright with you, Ms Aerial."

     Ms. Aerial gave Kira a thoughtful, yet stern, look until she relented and nodded her head. "I suppose giving you girls more time outdoors will surely be more beneficial than taking an exam. Alright, we shall head to Faerie Woods tomorrow morning."

     The girls cheered and clapped their hands, eagerly talking amongst themselves about the day's plan.

     As the rest of the class got up from their desks, Kira pulled out Alice's letter from her pocked and re-read the message. When Marissa gave her a sideways glance, she immediately crumpled the letter and walked out of the room. She secretly hoped none of her classmates, especially Marissa, were suspecting anything was amiss.

To be continued...