The sound of four boats zooming over him and the Kraken woke Tracey that day.
“Hm?” he asked, and he opened his golden brown eyes. Bright rays of sunshine showered the ocean floor and caused it to glow. A shoal of silver fish darted by the fairy’s head as he sat up and stretched his arms over his head. It took him a moment to understand why he hadn’t drowned, but then he remembered he regained his wings the day before. Excitement exploded inside Merlin’s apprentice as he swam to surface and poked his head out. There was the island he saw. It was really close now. Tracey could make out the forms of buildings and the figure of a white ship moored in the island’s harbor – the cruise ship! “Whoa,” the young man silently spoke as he floated in the beautiful, blue water, “I never knew Emilee and Jesse’s island could get this populated in such a short amount of time! Wow!” He prepared to dive underwater again and tell the Kraken when his eyes caught an orange buoy that gently bobbed up and down, “Is that a buoy? Cool!” Through ninja speed, Tracey appeared next to the buoy and grabbed hold of it. He couldn’t help but to chuckle. Oh, the things he could do as a merfairy! Flapping his wings, he hopped out of the water and landed on the buoy. To the ocean, he called, “Gene! Check this out! Gene!” Tracey grabbed the solar panels of the buoy and leaned his body over the ocean.
After a few more minutes, Gene/the Kraken, poked his head out of the water and faced Merlin’s apprentice. “What are you doing, Tracey?” he hissed, “You’re going to get seen!”
“You worry too much.” Merlin’s apprentice’s eyes moved up to the deep blue, cloudless sky and caught an airplane descending. It was coming in for a landing at St. David’s Island, since that was where Bermuda’s only airport was located. The sight of the plane caused Tracey to smile, “An airplane! People are already coming to visit Emilee and Jesse’s island! I have to greet them!”
“Whoa, what?!” Gene yelped, “What are you talking about, Tracey?!” but Tracey was already gone. He just loved his new wings too much. He couldn’t resist flying. The young, ninja-like apprentice shot into the sky and zoomed up towards the plane. Fairies were like human airplanes. They could fly as high and as fast as them. Down below, Gene groaned and admitted, “That kid is going to get himself in serious trouble.”
Tracey reached the airplane in a matter of only two minutes.
It was a huge, JetBlue aircraft that was steadily making its way down to the L.F. Wade International Airport. “This is amazing,” whispered the fairy. Quickly flying to the plane, he soon soared parallel with it – behind the front wings and clear of its engines. The curious, young fairy waved at one of the windows and shouted over the rushing, yet refreshing wind, “Hi! Aluna! Welcome to Emilee and Jesse’s Island, located halfway to Bermuda!” Tracey acted out an excited twirl and edged closer to the window. Green and purple fairy dust streamed out behind him and mixed with the blueness of the sky.
In the plane’s cabin, on the other side of the fairy, sat a little girl named June and her parents. The girl, who had a window seat, was plugged into her mother’s iPad. She soon lowered it to give her eyes a break and rubbed them. That was when she saw Tracey. Eyes widening, June’s jaw dropped to the ground, and she slapped her palms up against the glass.
Tracey grinned at the sight of her and decided to put on a little flying show. He spun in a circle and danced a bit on midair. His new wings shimmered as he did this.
In the cabin, June snatched her father’s arm, who was sitting next to her reading, and yelled, “Daddy! Daddy! A fairy! There’s a fairy flying outside the plane!”
“A fairy?” asked her dad, and he lowered his book, “Oh, honestly, June! There are no such things as…”
“Look!” June quickly pointed at the window where Tracey still flew on the outside and added with, “See for yourself that I’m right!” Her father let out a low sigh and looked with her.
The second he saw Tracey, his eyes widened as well, “Well chuck me out of the plane! It is a fairy! What in the name of?!”
“I told you,” spoke his daughter.
“A fairy?” asked a few people in the cabin, including June’s mother, “Where?” and June answered,
“Just outside the plane!” Both her dad and mom unbuckled and piled over to the window to get a better look at Tracey. He stopped flapping his wings and held his arms and hands close to them.
He zipped under the plane’s belly and appeared next to a window on the other side. Groups of people inside had unbuckled themselves and crowded the aisle so they could see him. Some had their cameras out, but they kept losing them since there was so much movement. The peoples’ weight caused the plane to tip a bit to the left, and Tracey tipped with it.
It wasn’t long until one of the flight attendants pushed her way through the crowd and shouted, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” in a confused voice, “What’s all the hubbub about?! Why are you guys out of your seats?!”
A woman quickly answered, “There’s a fairy flying just outside the plane!” and stumbled over to the attendant, “A real fairy!”
Just like before, Tracey waved and announced, “Welcome to Emilee and Jesse’s Island! They haven’t had visitors in I don’t know how long!”
“What’s he saying?” one of the humans inside the cabin asked.
Tracey switched to an upright flying position and cupped his hands. A large green and purple, fizzy light appeared in them. Smiling, the young man tossed it into the air. The spell created Welcome fireworks in the sky.
June pointed at the fireworks and yelled, “Look at that! He’s welcoming us!” She climbed up on a man’s back, and her eyes caught the fins on the backs of Tracey’s legs next, “He has fins on the backs of his legs! Do you think he’s a merfairy?”
The flight attendants soon pushed everybody back into their seats and forced them to buckle up again. All eyes though remained on the windows on the left side of the plane. It wasn’t long until it leveled out and continued towards the airport.
The ground was getting closer and closer by the second, but Tracey refused to leave the plane’s side. A whirling sound was soon heard behind him, and he twisted his head to look over his shoulder.
The young apprentice smiled when he saw the plane’s wheels were lowering, “The plane’s landing! Awesome!” Tracey had never landed with an airplane before, but there was always a first for everything. Besides, these humans were landing at an island he knew – an island that housed two very special people.
Tracey prepared himself for landing. He straightened out his body and held his arms out to his sides for balance. Both his and the plane’s nose pointed at the ground. Fairy dust danced behind him and put on a sparkle show for the aircraft’s passengers. Smiling, Tracey glanced at the airplane and back in the direction they were headed – the L.F. Wade International Airport runway. Within just another minute, the JetBlue aircraft lifted its nose as it soared over the runway, and Tracey mimicked. Then, a gentle bump was heard. The airplane’s wheels touched the ground, and it sprinted forward like it was a criminal trying to escape prison.
Tracey plopped down on the wing of the plane the second it landed and lifted his fist over his head, “Yeah!” He did it! He landed with an airplane! What an adventure! As the plane steadily slowed down, Merlin’s apprentice gently fell onto the wing and pulled his knees up close. His wings stood as straight as a rider on horseback behind him.
“Is he still there?” a woman in the cabin soon asked.
“He is!” a man announced. He also had a window seat, but this window seat was right next to the plane’s left wing. “He’s sitting on the wing!” added the man, “No wait! He just got up!” He was true to his word. Tracey hopped to his feet and headed in the direction of the window the man was glancing out of, “He’s coming this way!” Here, he became nervous. Why was this fairy thing approaching him like he was mad or something? What was he going to do to him – to all the passengers? Nothing. Tracey just flew to the window and hovered in front of it. “He’s right in front of my face!” yelled the man.
“The fairy is?!” shrieked another passenger who looked a little jealous.
“Yes!” The man pressed his palms up against the wall on either side of the window, and Tracey mimicked him from outside. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so intrigued by humans, especially after what happened the year before with Peter Nelson. The passengers eagerly listened for the man to say something else. The plane had slowed way down and was making its way towards the terminal, behind another line of planes. The man who was face to face with Tracey studied him up and down and next said, “He’s young. He looks to be around eighteen years old. His eyes are golden brown, and there seems to be a cut under his right eye.”
“Is he handsome?!” a teenage girl randomly asked from the back of the plane. All around, eyes rotated and landed on her.
The girl’s mother cleared her throat and said, “Um, Susan,” and her daughter glanced up to her,
“I just think it’s safe to know if our unexpected visitor is handsome.” As quick as a flash, she focused her attention back on the man who was looking at Tracey up close and asked him, “Well, is he?” All the man could do was just stare at her.
Things took a bit of a turn for Tracey here. His wings were exhausted from trying to keep up with the plane, and he wanted to rest them. He landed right on the edge of the plane’s wing, and his foot instantly slipped. The young man yelped as he banged his face on the wing’s side and crashed right into an empty baggage trailer that was heading towards another airplane. This airplane had pulled up to its gate.
The driver soon brought the trailer to a screeching stop, and he twisted his head to look at the cart Tracey fell in, “Hey! Just what do you think you’re doing?! You’re not allowed out here!”
Tracey’s fingers gripped the cart’s edge, and he pushed himself to a sitting position, “Sorry, sir! I just slipped!” As a result of banging his face against the edge of the plane’s wing, the cut under his eye started to bleed again, and blood dripped down his cheek. There definitely was going to be a scar there now. The driver of the baggage trailer shouted for Tracey to get off. The sound of his voice caused him to jump, and he quickly obeyed.
Merlin’s apprentice flapped his wings and lifted into the air. As he zoomed away, he told himself, “Boy, was he rude! Humans. Nobody will ever understand them.” Things only got worse from here.
Tracey had accidentally stumbled onto the runway again, right where the planes took off! An airplane shot by him at incredible speed, and the wind it gave off shoved him into a field of grass! It was as if a cannonball had exploded in front of him! Since Tracey was a fairy, he was lightweight, so it made sense that he would be thrown back if an airplane rushed by him. When he landed on the grass, he rolled backwards a few times before stopping. The young man, now covered in dirt, leaped to his feet and wobbled a bit. He attempted to flap his wings, but another plane taking off threw him back! It was like he was caught in a storm in the ocean when waves constantly crashed on you.
Petrified, Tracey shut his eyes and shouted, “Help!” He tried to fly again, but a third plane zoomed by him and tossed him like a rag doll onto the runway’s edge! “Please!” screamed the eighteen-year-old apprentice. To protect his wings and prevent them from breaking, he made a tough decision to perform the Sunset Delay spell on himself. He waited until things calmed down a bit, and planes took a break from taking off. Resting on his butt in the runway, he waved his hands and chokingly announced, “Hidden in the shadow! Across the vast meadow! Blending in the ghetto! Hiding the wings shadow!” His entire body, including his wings, glowed up the second he spoke the spell. In a matter of seconds, his Merfairy wings went poof, and disappeared from his back.
Once the magic left Merlin’s apprentice, he was once again a wingless fairy. His apprentice attire – the green, tunic-like, ninja-style shirt had come back as well as everything else. The Sunset Delay spell though didn’t help him from still being tossed all over the place whenever a plane took off. Tracey, Merlin’s apprentice, was trapped on the runway of the L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda. He sprinted in the direction of the terminal but was forced to slap his hands over his ears when he heard a huge, FedEx airplane taking off. The gush this plane gave off was the biggest one Tracey experienced, and it hurt.
For the hundredth time, he was thrown back, and he crashed down hard on his back in another field of grass! CRASH! “HELP!!” Merlin’s apprentice screamed at the tops of his lungs, “MAKENNA!! MAKENNA, I NEED YOU!!” He didn’t even get to stand before another huge plane decided to take off! This gush of wind chucked him forward, and he did a face plant on the grass. This sick game left his arms, neck, and face covered in scrapes and cuts. If humans were really nice, then they wouldn’t be trying to kill a fairy! This experience left the young man afraid of them again. He just didn’t understand why every human wanted to hurt him!
After a few more rounds of Throwing the Fairy, Tracey no longer heard the roar of airplane engines. Instead, he heard sirens. Removing his hands from his neck and head, he looked up from the grass and peered forward.
His eyes caught a police car, as well as an ambulance rushing towards him. “AHH!!” screamed the young man. Tears streamed down his cheeks, “I’m going to jail!” No planes were on the runway right now. Flights had been delayed, and it would stay that way until the police and paramedics got this mysterious stranger out of the way.
Scared, hungry, and beat up, Tracey tried to make a run for it, but a Bermuda police officer grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. “Let go of me!” shouted the fairy, “I don’t want to go to jail! I’ve done nothing wrong!”
The police officer holding him yelled, “Calm down!” and he tightened his grip on his arms, “We’re not going to hurt you! Son, please! You’re bleeding!” He grabbed Tracey’s scraped up hand and pulled it behind his back. It wasn’t long until another police officer jumped in, and they together pulled Merlin’s apprentice towards the ambulance. “Let go!” screamed the young fairy who kicked his feet off the ground. Suddenly, the Octopus Man’s trident flashed on his injured arm again, and he added with, “The ocean! It needs me! I didn’t become a merfairy for nothing! I’ve got to get to the Bermuda Triangle before the Octopus Man destroys everything!”
The police officers soon reached the ambulance, and they turned the teenager over to the paramedics, announcing, “He needs help! He’s bleeding all over the place! Scrapes and cuts are all on his hands, neck, and face!”
“I’m fine!” Tracey shouted, “Don’t take me to a hospital! Please don’t take me to a hospital! I have very bad memories of those places! Just let me go! The ocean needs my help!” He shut his eyes and grabbed hold of one of the paramedic’s hands. As an attempt to get away, he bit down on it quite hard, and the medic yelped. He quickly let go to reach for his hand, and this gave Tracey time to escape. As fast as a ninja, he sprinted across the runway towards the blue water surrounding the airport. He tried to fly, but he had forgotten that he had placed the Sunset Delay spell on himself. This caused him to crash down on the runway instead, and two, fresh cuts appeared on his arms.
Tracey though quickly got up and continued towards the ocean. “Kid!” he heard the police officers and paramedics calling behind him, “Just what do you think you’re doing?!” Tracey didn’t answer. He refused to run back. He just wanted to find Emilee and Jesse’s lighthouse. If he did, then he would be with people he trusted.
As soon as the young fairy made it to the ocean, he dove. The police officers and paramedics stopped themselves from diving after him and just stared at the ripples the water gave off when he did.
One of the officers soon admitted, “Boy, he’s fast!”
Next, a paramedic said, “We’ve got to get him out of there.”
Tracey swam like a maniac to the bottom of the cove and plopped down on the sand. He pulled strands of seaweed in front of him to hide and held his breath. No one had followed him into the water. At least, he hoped so. He held his ninja star at the ready though just in case someone did.
His doubts though returned when he heard a sudden swishing sound coming in his direction! Oh man, I’m dead, he thought to himself. Merlin’s apprentice tightened his grip on his shuriken and turned on the brave side of his personality. He silently crept out of the seaweed and headed in the direction the sound came from. The salt water caused his cuts and scrapes to sting, and blood from them oozed into the ocean. Tracey though tried his best to ignore the pain.
With his ninja star on hand, he swam butterfly-style in the water. Jagged rocks poked out of the seabed. The rocks were where Tracey heard the swishing sound. He backed up a little bit and held his free hand behind him. It hit one of the barnacle-covered rocks, and Tracey glanced back to it. Then the swishing came again, much closer this time. Shaking with fear of being caught by the humans he saw on the runway, Tracey jerked his shuriken in every direction as fast as he could. A shadow appeared in front of him in the water, and his eyes widened. Merlin’s apprentice quickly swam behind one of the rocks and listened. “Makenna, please,” he whimpered, “Where are you? Why aren’t you here with me?” Tracey was absolutely traumatized. If Makenna was here, she would know how to deal with these humans coming after him. After all, she spent thirteen years of her life with them, and unlike him, they didn’t try to kill her, except for Peter Nelson the year before. Merlin’s apprentice looked up when he heard the swishing sound once again. A shadow loomed over the rock he hid behind.
Tracey was just about to let his ninja star go when he heard, “Tracey!” and Gene’s head emerged from it.
“Gene!” Tracey gasped, “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you, of course. You didn’t think I was just going to leave you alone, right? As soon as you chased after the plane, I knew something was going to happen, and it turns out I was right.” Gene’s eyes landed on Tracey’s oozing wounds, “Oh man, you’re a mess. Who on Earth did you get in a fight with?”
“Never mind that.” Tracey spoke in a shaky voice, “Just get me away from these humans. Take me to Emilee and Jesse’s lighthouse.”
“I don’t know if I can take you to the lighthouse, but I can take you to Alexandria. She needs to speak to you anyway. We’re going to meet her at the shipwreck of the Kate.”
“Shipwreck?”
“Why not? We’re near the Bermuda Triangle, and besides, a shipwreck is a decent place to have a conversation with the Atlantic Oracle. Just follow me, and I’ll take you to her.” All Tracey could do was just nod. Putting up his ninja star, he grabbed hold of one of the Kraken’s tentacles, and the two of them took off – away from the humans and towards the shipwreck of the Kate.
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