Ash wasn’t out of the dumps yet on Coutarine Island, for he saw the Chamber of Reestablishment had another whole room of mysterious murals and blue lights when he exited the first one. Seriously, he just wanted to find the exit. Though it looked very similar to the room that had the pool in it, the room Ash now stood in was larger and equipped with a door two times the size of the first one, and a chest sat directly in front of him. Curious, the wingless Wizard Fairy jogged to it and opened it. He found the weapons he used to fight against the Devil’s Heir: his broadsword, bow and arrow, and shield. Just seeing them, Ash couldn’t help but to feel like he knew them from somewhere. His jaw gaped open, and grabbing the weapons, he put them on.
Once the weapons were nice and snug, he stood up, and his eyes caught the new door which he hoped would lead him out of this place. Sure enough it would, but the door only opened to some kind of sign of magic. Ash’s fairy instincts told him so, and it was here he finally remembered he was a magical being. He ended up using another Special Spell to open the door. Green magic outlined young Ash, and he put his feet together. From there, he lifted his index fingers and put one to each temple. Keeping his right index finger on one side of his temple, he turned his body a bit and pointed his dominant hand towards the final door. Right at his command, the door opened and revealed a corridor on the other side. A bright light shone at the very end of it. Was it the light to Heaven or Hell? The only way how Ash could find out was if he stepped into the corridor. Therefore, he did. Murals and lights decorated this room as well, but the lights this time around were just regular torches. They weren’t blue like the other ones. A rat suddenly sprinted by the bewildered boy’s foot, and he yelped when he heard it. Ugh, rats. Inhaling a breath of air, Ash continued towards the light. When he reached it, all his worries faded away for what he saw was breathtaking. It made him realize how lucky he was to be alive.
The young man stood in a cluster of coconut palm trees, banana trees, pineapple trees, and ferns which danced in a tasty, tropical breeze. If it sounds familiar, the chamber was located at the end of the elevation of land Makenna saw when she and Ash first made it to Celt Tip. The cliff was located off to the side, and that was where Ash went the second he left the shrine. His eyes brightened when he saw the view. Celt Tip’s cliff overlooked the turquoise-colored lagoon, ocean, and stretch of land where Ash encountered Breena’s ghost. His excitement bubbled inside him, and for the first time in a few days before he got his brain injury, he acted like his normal self. Ash was desperate to journey down to the beach and explore this tropical island, but of course since he didn’t have Crusader, he didn’t remember it was Coutarine Island. Turning on his heel, the Scottish fairy hurried towards the steep path that led to the shrine. It rested on a ridge, so on one side he saw the forest and on the other, the lagoon and ocean.
Ash decided to descend the path with style. Reaching up, young Ash took his shield off his back and set it down in front of him. Hopping onto it, he stood like a surfer and gave the shield a little push. Right when he did, the weapon slid off the top of the hill and started to slide down the steep path. Ash stood like a pro and acted out a few tricks. Before he died, he did this a lot during his free time when he practiced his archery and sword fighting. He unfortunately didn’t remember though. In his head, Ash just asked himself how he knew about this little trick. Things turned even more interesting from there when he saw a bow and arrow target hanging from one of the trees. He couldn’t help himself. Reaching back, he took his bow off his back and drew an arrow from his quiver. Ash put it in his weapon and aimed it at the target. With a smile on his face, he let the arrow go, and it stabbed the target right in the center. That was a definite bullseye. Ash discovered more targets the further he surfed down the path and constantly shot arrows. Every time he got a bullseye.
Halfway to the bottom of the hill, something emerged from the forest behind him. It was a dummy made out of leaves and branches that had been brought to life by magic. It was made so someone could practice sword fighting. This whole path Ash rode on was nothing but a training ground for weaponry and magic. The Wizard Fairy Makenna and Tracey were supposed to seek out let him use it all the time.
Though Ash didn’t recognize the training ground nor the dummy, he still couldn’t help but to smile at the challenge nature created for him. The dummy held a sword in its hand, and it launched it towards him. Ash quickly whirled around on his sliding shield after putting up his bow and arrow and drew his own sword. Still smiling, he and the nature dummy started to clash. Clang! Clang! Clang! The swords created music as they banged together. Only a minute into the duel, Ash slapped the sword out of the dummy’s hand and turned back around on his shield surfboard. The loser, the dummy itself, crept back into the forest and waited for its next test.
When he made it to the bottom of the hill, Ash leaped off his shield and landed right in the fluffy, white sand of the Wizard Fairy’s beach. He didn’t fall or anything. Just being on the beach itself took the fairy’s breath away – the beauty was too much to bear, and he turned his head in the direction of the Wizard Fairy’s house. Perhaps someone in that house would be able to tell him where he was? Ash headed over there the second he picked up his shield, but he received quite a surprise when he reached the house. The lovely afternoon was interrupted by the sound of a horse whinny. It was Harmony. She happily jogged to Ash from where she had been waiting and reared back. The sight of the horse surprised him. He didn’t remember she was his. Once Harmony got back down on four legs, she moved her nose under his hand and lifted it. She stared desperately in his eyes, but no matter how hard she tried, Ash just couldn’t remember her. He confusingly removed his hand from the horse’s muzzle and passed her. The two of them exchanged glances when he did this.
Ash had only taken a few steps closer to the Wizard Fairy’s house when he heard a voice from the deck, “Ash!” Quickly shifting his body in the direction of the voice, Ash’s eyes caught an old fairy soaring down the deck’s steps, and she was followed by a man dressed in a blue cloak and another fairy dressed in a white coat. She held her white hair in a bun and was dressed in a long, green cloak and dark green cape. It was Selene! She, Merlin, and Dr. Snugglekins weren’t allowed in the chamber while it resurrected Ash. They had to wait at the Wizard Fairy’s house until he woke up and found his way out, and boy were they happy when they saw him walking again – Selene especially. Ash was technically her son.
She landed in front of him, sobbing, and pulled him into an unexpected hug, “Oh, my baby boy! You’re awake! I was so worried about you! Don’t scare me like that!” A question mark appeared above Ash’s head as she pulled him close to her breasts. Like everything else, he didn’t remember her right now – nor Merlin, nor Dr. Snugglekins. Waving his hands, he tried to break free from Selene’s grasp, but she held him tightly. Finally, Dr. Snugglekins jumped in to help.
He pulled Ash out of Selene’s arms and sternly told her, “Take it easy, Selene! He’s confused. Keep in mind that he was just resurrected. It’s going to take him a few hours to return to reality.”
“Oh, right.” Selene spoke. Closing her eyes, she upsettingly brought her fists to her chest and said a little prayer for her baby boy. She then grabbed him by the arms and desperately asked, “Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Your head?” Ash opened his mouth and tried to speak, but he couldn’t. Nothing escaped lips, except silence. “Oh no,” worriedly continued Selene, and she quickly spun around to Dr. Snugglekins, “Why can’t he speak?!”
“Part of it is the brain injury. The Chamber of Reestablishment may have resurrected him, but he clearly still has his concussion. He can’t remember anything at the moment.”
Here, Merlin the Great spoke up, “Which makes sense because he died.”
Died? Ash asked in his wounded head, I died? Gee, that was pretty dark. How on earth did he die? Dr. Snugglekins, Selene, and Merlin saw the confusion in his eyes. It wasn’t long until Selene let his arms go so Dr. Snugglekins could move in. After all, he was a doctor. He took the boy by the upper, left arm and dragged him towards the Wizard Fairy’s house, “Come now, son. We have much to talk about. Besides, you need to take it easy. The Devil did a chunk of damage to you. Aside from the head injury, you’ve also got a bruised arm from when it threw you.”
“Why on earth did he go against the Devil’s Heir in his condition?” Merlin asked in a stern voice.
“He’s Ash.” Selene elucidated to him, “You see, Merlin, after the death of his parents and sister, he will fight nonstop, injured or not, to protect the island and its inhabitants. He refuses to lose anything else dear to him. But, I also think he was trying to prove himself to us. To prove that he can teach Makenna about Special Spells.”
With a shake of his head, Merlin said, “Ugh, teenagers. They think they’re so grown up.” He and Selene together stopped themselves from continuing their journey to the Wizard Fairy’s house and peered back to Ash and Dr. Snugglekins.
The doctor patted the wounded fairy’s hand and asked him, “Your head is starting to hurt again, isn’t it? Don’t worry, we’re almost at the house. Once we get inside, we can whip up a nice batch of Coutarinian Tea. Makenna will be back soon. I promise. And I also promise you will soon have your memory back.” Behind, Ash’s horse, Harmony, gloomily lowered her head and slumped in the direction of her little stable which was located just right of the Wizard Fairy’s house.
The journey to Aluna’s village section took a bit longer than expected, but finally Ethelinda dropped Makenna Delling and Silvey in front of its entrance tunnel. The two magical beings thanked her, and the island’s Guardian nodded. Silvey jogged forward, but Ethelinda called Makenna back for a minute.
“Yes, Ethelinda?” she asked, and she curtsied to her, clutching the scroll tightly to her chest. Makenna hadn’t opened it yet, but she had an urge to. She just wanted to see what was so important about it. As she and Ethelinda glanced into each other’s eyes, a mysterious gust of cold wind suddenly blew Makenna’s hair.
Ethelinda smiled at the princess and told her, “I feel, Miss Delling, that your friend, Tracey, just got the gift he has wanted for the past year.”
“Really? What? So you’re saying that he’s all right?”
“For now at least. You are almost ready to fly to him. The last thing you need to do here on Coutarine Island after talking to Evelyn is getting the Wizard Fairy to teach you about Special Spells.”
“Special Spells. Right. Speaking of the Wizard Fairy, what about Ash? Is Ash all right? Will I ever see him again?”
“Oh, I know you will. After all, it was you who technically saved his life. When you do find Ash though, Miss Delling, I want you to deliver something to him.”
Makenna nodded, “All right. Sure. I need to make it up to him. What is it you want me to deliver, Ethelinda?” During this time, Silvey trotted back so she too could experience what was going on. Makenna tucked the scroll into the belt on her dress so she could take whatever it was the Guardian was about to give her.
Her towering figure hovered over her, and she brought her seaweed hands together. Ethelinda shuffled them around a bit and then lowered them. Opening her palms, she held them out to the Metamorphic Fairy, and she peered into them. Makenna’s jaw dropped with amazement at what she saw in the hands. Ethelinda held Crusader, Ash’s sword. Crusader was the only way how he could get his memory back.
“Cru-Crusader.” Makenna stammered, “But how?”
“The Chief Wave delivered her to me.” Ethelinda elucidated, “He said that you should be the one to give her back to him. After all, you were the one who trapped him and Silvey down in that secret room.” Oh, did she have to mention that?
Makenna’s guilt returned. “I-I get it,” she gloomily spoke, “You want me to apologize to him.”
“That is correct.” When Ethelinda said this, she pushed her hands closer to the Metamorphic Fairy, “Now take her, Miss Delling. Deliver Crusader to him after you visit Evelyn.”
“But, that’s an enchanted sword. It’s like Excalibur. Do you trust it in my hands?”
“I do.” There was certainty in Ethelinda’s voice, “Keep in mind that you used Ash’s broadsword to defeat the Devil’s Heir. He needs Crusader in order to help you find the Wizard Fairy.”
Nodding to show she understood, Makenna nervously reached for the sword. The confident smile on Ethelinda’s face, as well as the touch of Silvey’s feelers around her leg, cooled her nerves a bit. Makenna was a princess. She had to do this. It was her duty. Inhaling a breath of air, she reached forward and grabbed hold of Crusader’s hilt. As she was bringing back her hand, Ethelinda propped her head up again and watched. Since the sword was a bit hefty, Makenna dropped it into the sand. It fixed that though.
The blade suddenly glowed up, and Crusader shrank down to the perfect size for her. “Whoa!” Makenna yelped. She found that it was easy to lift the sword now. Blade still glowing, strings of magic escaped it and circled the Metamorphic Fairy. “What’s going on?” she asked. Silvey wanted to get a better look at what was going on, so she let go of the fairy’s leg and backed up.
Ethelinda let out a friendly chortle and answered, “Crusader has accepted you as her partner, Miss Delling. She likes you.”
“Seriously?! This is insane!” Since when did a sword have feelings? It was a sword!
Coutarine Island’s Guardian focused her attention on it and asked, “Hey, Crusader. Why don’t you show the princess here what you’re made of?”
“Princess?” Makenna still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she was a real princess. Her eyes rolled down to the glowing Crusader. Before she knew it, the sword’s sword appearance melted away and changed into the impressive bow and arrow Ash used to defeat the siren from before. From there, it turned into his staff and crossbow, and back into a sword.
Ethelinda soon said to Makenna, “Hold her out like you’re about to lunge. Show Crusader a thrust.”
“Um, okay,” she replied, and did as she was told. The second she thrusted Crusader forward, a sudden beam of magic escaped the blade and crashed into the beach! “AWW!!” Makenna shouted out, “Cool!”
“Now try a vertical slash,” said Ethelinda. Excited, Makenna lifted Crusader over her head and slashed the weapon vertically in front of her. The tip of the sword hit the ground, and as soon as it did, the ground gave way to reveal a hole in the sand. “Now a horizontal slash!” Ethelinda called to the Metamorphic Fairy. Makenna, desperate to see what would happen, next slashed Crusader horizontally to the right. Silvey quickly moved out of the way as another beam of magic escaped the blade and smashed into the sand. “And finally,” Ethelinda laughed, “the spin attack! Let her royal reign begin, Crusader!”
With a smile on her face, Makenna positioned her feet and held the sword’s glowing blade out to the right. She let out a yell and spun a 360-degree circle at a fast pace. More strings of magic encased her in a cocoon-like state.
“Now try them all together, starting with the thrust!” ordered the seaweed Guardian.
Makenna did, and she laughed at the sight of all the magic Crusader gave off with the four moves together. She actually wasn’t that bad. Silvey was forced to jump all over the place so she wouldn’t get herself hurt. After Makenna did the spin attack for the second time, Ethelinda lifted her seaweed-covered hands and clapped them, “Well done, Makenna! You learn fast!”
“This is so awesome!” the fifteen-year-old excitedly cried out, “The magic is incredible in Crusader!”
Resting her arms on the sandy beach, Ethelinda asked Makenna, “Young one, do you not even realize what I’m doing with you?”
Makenna glanced at her and shrugged, “You’re showing me all these cool magic tricks Crusader has up her sleeve.”
The Guardian again chuckled, “Not just that, but also,” Here, she gently tapped the teenager’s nose with her index finger, “I am showing you how to sword fight.”
The words blew Makenna away, “Sword fight?” and she quickly lost her smile, “Oh no, Ethelinda! I can’t sword fight! Tell me, have you ever seen a female fairy thrusting a sword?”
“Well, no, but last time I checked the Fairy Handbook, it said nothing about female fairies learning how to sword fight. Makenna, you have to understand that magic doesn’t solve everything. Sure, Crusader’s magical, but her magic doesn’t come from the ones who hold her. Remember that fairies are limited to the amount of magic they use, especially ones yours, Ash, and Tracey’s ages. Fairies die if they use up too much. That’s why Ash’s parents forced him to learn how to handle weapons at a very young age.”
“How young?”
Ethelinda took a deep breath, “Woof,” and pushed herself back into the ocean, “Ash first handled a weapon when he was three years old.”
“Three?!”
“Mm-hmm, and he’s been practicing every day since. It has been fifteen years, and his skills have earned him the title of Coutarine’s Greatest Warrior. Point being, when he first started with weapons, his parents told him that he wouldn’t be using up his magic if he fought too. Merlin forced Tracey to take up ninjustu for the same reason, and now it is your turn. Fairies in this world are required to fight with something else besides magic. They actually are much more fragile than you think. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”
Makenna gave a small nod here, “I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yes, ma’am. So, Ash is Coutarine’s Greatest Warrior? Doesn’t he seem a little, um, young though?”
“He is, and that’s what makes him special to our world. Ash became the youngest Warrior ever by the time he was only fourteen years old. Fourteen was also the age when he became a Wizard Fairy.”
“Woof.” Makenna lowered Crusader and set her tip in the sand, “Ethelinda, I don’t think I can be like him.”
“You don’t want to. Everybody is different. Just be yourself. Remember how you showed the ballet part of your personality during the fight with the Devil’s Heir?”
“Well, yeah,” Makenna started, but the Guardian interrupted her.
“That’s what you have to do. Just like how every fairy has a different style of flying, they all have different styles of fighting too. Please, Makenna. Just give sword fighting a chance. I can teach you the basics until Evelyn comes out and gets you, and then Ash can teach you the rest.” After she said this, the Metamorphic Fairy nervously glanced down on Crusader. She turned her head and met eyes with Silvey. The fairy dog smiled and nodded at her.
Finally, Makenna sighed and glanced back up to Ethelinda, “Well, okay. I guess it’s worth a shot.”
For an hour after that, the Guardian put her through a ruthless training session. She used magic to create a few seaweed dummies. Similar to the dummy Ash fought while he was surfing, each one held a sword – wooden ones, and they surrounded the Metamorphic Fairy. Makenna tried to fight them off, but it was difficult. She kept on missing and losing balance. The dummies pushed her to the ground when this happened. “You’re not throwing your personality into the fight!” Ethelinda called to her from the ocean, “Don’t try to be like Ash or Tracey! Be yourself! Show these dummies your personality!”
“My personality?” Makenna asked from the ground, “Ma’am, my personality consists of nearly killing my friends every year!” She didn’t know this, but Ethelinda not only was trying to teach her about sword fighting so she could fight with something else besides magic, but she also was trying to prepare her for her battle against The Mincing. The Wizard Fairy was a bit out of sorts out right now, so she and the Chief Wave had decided to come to his aid, only to loosen the pressure on him. The true fate of the human and fairy worlds rested in Makenna’s hands – not Tracey’s, and not Ash’s. The thought of this was way too much for her to bear though. How could a fifteen-year-old fairy, who wasn’t even a full fairy, defeat the evil that lurked in the Bermuda Triangle? The Triangle was bad enough! Makenna tightly gripped Crusader’s hilt and attempted to fight the dummies one last time, but they knocked her down once again.
“Makenna!” Ethelinda called, “Your personality is not nearly killing your friends every year! It is much more than that! Think about the fight with the Heir! Think about your surfing!”
Makenna finally just lost it and reached for her head, “I can’t take it anymore! Stop! Stop the training! STOP!!” Ethelinda’s eyes widened when she yelled this, and she quickly pulled the magic away from the dummies.
They fell dead in the sand, and seaweed from their bodies covered the area around Makenna. “Makenna, what’s wrong?” the Guardian asked the Metamorphic Fairy. She then noticed a few tears glistering in her eyes.
With Ash’s sword held tightly in her grip, Makenna hurried over to a driftwood log and sat down. She dropped the sword into the sand and pulled out her phone. Makenna started to dial, and while she did, she rubbed tears from her eyes.
It wasn’t long until Silvey the fairy dog approached her, and she asked through telepathy, “Makenna, what do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m calling my mom and telling her I’m coming home!”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t like being the one destined to save the human and fairy worlds!”
“No, Makenna.” Silvey lifted her feelers. She pulled the phone out of the girl’s hand and held it behind her. “You’re giving up just because of one weapon?”
“It’s not just that.” Makenna spoke, and she looked around the beautiful island, “I don’t fit in with any of this! I am not meant to be a fairy! I am a human! The human world doesn’t have all these limitations for our actions! We don’t have to fight with a weapon, and we don’t have to be the ones to defeat this Mincing thing! I want to go home!” Silvey couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
With a shake of her head, she begged, “Please don’t give up hope.”
“Why?” Makenna rudely asked, “Is it so you can just impress Ash again? You couldn’t even save him from the Devil’s Heir!” That line struck Silvey in the heart like a bullet. A look of sadness washed across her face.
There was a moment of silence between the two, and then she sternly but chokingly told the Metamorphic Fairy, “Let me tell you something, all right?! Two years ago, I was born into this world thinking I would have the best life ever! I thought nothing bad was going to happen, but guess what?! My owners started to throw me against cabinets, hit me, and pull out my fur, and I told myself, that’s just the way life is! It sucks at times! You’re not living in a fairytale, Makenna! You’re living in reality! If it wasn’t for Ash, I wouldn’t be here today! You have to understand that you are not alone! You have friends for a reason! We want to help you through this! We want to help you realize that you are a very special fairy!”
“What? A so-called princess?” Makenna didn’t like getting chewed out by a dog.
She lowered her voice and told her, “Yes. A princess who cares about her kingdom and will do everything in her willpower to protect it. A true Metamorphic Fairy never leaves the human and fairy worlds in the dump.” Silvey’s words of wisdom though didn’t stop Makenna from giving up.
She stood from the log and picked up Ash’s sword, saying, “I’m sorry, Silvey, but I just don’t belong here.” With that, she took her phone out of the dog’s feeler and headed in the direction of Ethelinda. No longer was she smiling. She knew Makenna’s plan. Soon standing in front of her, the Metamorphic Fairy reached into her belt and pulled out the scroll. She offered both it and Crusader to the Guardian.
Seeing this, Ethelinda sighed and said, “Keep them, kid. Just in case you change your mind.”
Makenna doubted she would, but she went ahead and held onto the sword and scroll. Silvey trotted up and came within reach of the Guardian, and the two of them together watched as their only hope for survival against The Mincing walked down the beach and approached the ocean. She peered down on it and noticed her fingernails changing to a dark blue color. She then twisted her head and glanced back at Silvey and Ethelinda one last time. As she did this, she pushed her way into the ocean. Once she was waist height, she held her arms in front of her and dove.
Makenna swam to a beautiful, deep section of the coral reef and brought her hand to the two necklaces she wore. Her dress and ponytail flowed gently in the sea. Even though she currently wasn’t in her Merfairy attire, she could still breathe underwater and swim pretty fast.
With her hand still over her necklaces, she closed her eyes and told the ocean, “Ocean, take me home. Please.” Here, she opened them, “I miss my family. Besides, I am not the one meant to save us. Choose Tracey or even Ash. Their hearts are much purer than mine. Please take me home.” After a few minutes, the bewildered ocean finally gave in. The current picked up and caught her. It then pulled her in the direction of the line, away from Coutarine Island and towards Seabrook Island instead.
Back on surface, Silvey gloomily dropped her ears, and she hurried to the water’s edge. The dog howled into the atmosphere and begged for Makenna to come back, but she didn’t. Finally, she just collapsed onto the sand and put her head in between her legs. Behind she and Ethelinda, a blue sparkle suddenly escaped from Aluna’s village section tunnel, and it flew in their direction. It was one of the fairy sprites – a female one. She looked quite young, about sixteen years old, and she was very pretty. She had short, black hair, green eyes, and red lipstick covered her lips. She was one of few sprites who didn’t wear any shoes. Her wings were white and a little bit smaller than the average sprite.
When she made it to Ethelinda and Silvey, she was out of breath. “Whew!” The sprite reached for her knees, “Sorry I’m late, guys, but I got chased by a bunch of bees trying to get honey for the tea. No worries though, Evelyn is here now.” She finally noticed Ethelinda and Silvey’s gloominess, “What’s wrong? Wait.” The sprite examined the area but saw nothing except for the Guardian and fairy dog, “Where’s Makenna?”
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