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Long ago, when time was lost in itself, the great fairy goddess, Alorah, sent fairies to the earth. Their noble duty was to watch over the well being of the human race. Every time a good-hearted human was in a coil of trouble, the fairy would secretly help them out of their dire straits. For instance, if one were lost in the forest and was hungry, the fairy would stealthily find food and make a path with it out of the wood. Each fairy was assigned one human to look after each day. After a full day’s time, each of them would be given a different person, as to not get too attached to any humans. Fairies, as you may know, cannot be seen, for if they are careless in doing their work and are seen, they will be turned instantly into a moth forever. As human life increased on the planet, they were granted powers to transform into other things to avoid being seen, such as a paperweight or a bug. (Bugs are hardly used anymore because humans dislike bugs and kill every single one they see without consulting their brain first.) Alorah also shrank them to the size of large flies. They like to carry on their business as their own- they have never intentionally harmed anyone and they don’t mean to. There was one though, however, who did try to take power over the fairies.
This evil pixie’s name was Stragen. He used his magical powers to deceive and convert other good fairies to following him in a revolt against the fairy world. Stragen did not like the humans either and tried to do everything in his power to bring them down. He was somehow able to overcome the Shadow Curse (as the moth transformation came to be called) and deceived a child into following him into the fairy world, so that he could change all of them to hideous, trivial moths. His plan was perfect- except for one, miniature flaw. This one child that he conned into following him, out of the thousands of children on earth, believed, with no proof at all, in fairies. Thus the young prince caused no harm, but instead allowed the Fairy Protection Agency, the fairy “police”, to capture and banish Stragen (And, of course, to block the child’s memory of this moment and send him back to the planet). And this is where Perigran’s tale begins.
* * *
“Oh no! I’ve lost my wrist watch!” said a small boy of age 12. “Where the devil did I put it…?”
Perigran, or Pery as he liked to be called, moved silently through the room as his large eyes scouted for the watch. His tiny wings fluttered silently as he explored the boy’s room for the watch, all while avoiding the child’s deadly eyes. His magical Helper’s uniform- slightly baggy pants, a long sleeved, v-necked shirt with a white collar, and his very own pair of new Quiet Shoes, was blue and glowed silver. It boosted his speed and secrecy, but it was hard, still. It was as if the boy was looking for Pery instead of his watch. “If I ever want to become a top Helper, then I have to do it right!” thought Pery as he glanced at his supervisor who was observing through the open window and recording the whole show on his Time-Taker. Pery’s eyes reached the bottom of the bed, and there it was- the boy’s watch. He started to move to the bed as quietly as fairily possible, but his silvery glow caught the youth’s eye. The boy turned around only to find a spider on his floor- Pery had now Phased and was sprinting, with all eight legs, toward the watch.
“Oh a spider!” The boy started chasing after Pery, who was getting closer and closer to the child’s time piece. Just as the lad’s hand brushed Pery’s now furry backside, he saw the watch on the floor.
“Yay! Mom, I found it!” The boy reached for the watch and strapped it onto his thin wrist. He reached for the spider, but it was no longer there. He stood up and gazed around the floor, but found nothing. He cast one more confused glance at the place the spider once was, then headed downstairs for breakfast.
“Excellent work Perigran!” cheered Huey, Pery’s supervisor, as they warped back to the fairy world. “You’re going to be a grand Helper!”
“Why, thank you Hue! My schooling paid off, nay?” bragged Pery. “I can’t wait to show my performance to my father!”
Their world slowly began to come into focus. Warping is very old and slow, but it is a very advanced form of magic and difficult to perform. Small golden spheres began to sprout from space. Pery saw his friend Jenfie fly to her dwelling sphere- the top of the yellow orb opened up and swallowed her whole. Pery said goodbye to Huey and flew to his own bubble to meet his father. The ball gulped him up as well, but when he got inside- he saw that there were three upper-class Helpers awaiting his company. They wore red uniforms and glowed gold. A thin silver chain with the Crest of Alorah hung around their necks- the mark of a true Helper. His father was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s my father?” asked Pery.
“He…has some business to take care of” said the fairy. His face began to loose color a bit.
“…Why? What has happened-“
“Listen- being…as fine of a novice Helper as you are, I feel I should tell you. He’s warped back, Perigran. Stragen found a way to return. Your father and other superior Helper’s are trying to manage the situation, but it has been difficult. He’s created a Protect, like a shield, around his dwelling in the human realm and we are not able to get into it. Don’t worry about your father though- he can take care of more than himself. Just stay out of the human realm for a bit, ok?”
The fairy looked at Pery with warm eyes, and then fluttered away, the other two following him. Pery was shocked and did not believe this news. How could Stragen have escaped? Wasn’t he banished forever? He couldn’t hold his thoughts in- he had to talk to someone. He took off his uniform and put on his blue robes, took his white family ring, and headed towards Jenfie’s sphere.
“Perigran! Did you hear the news?” asked Jenfie as Pery flew in through the wall.
“Yes, I just heard! How could this have happened? My father is one of the Helper’s assigned to it!” said Pery hastily. “I’m worried about him, Jenfie. Two-hundred years ago, before I was even born, my father tried to subdue him and Stragen practically killed him. I want to follow him and help him. Will you come with me?”
“No way! Perigran, you can’t just go follow him! You will put not only yourself in danger, but you may jeopardize your father too!”
“I’m not going to get in the way- just look after him and come back here if I see that he’s in trouble, ok?” pleaded Pery.
“…I still don’t like it, but I’ll go with for your sake.”
Jenfie took her glass bracelet, for good luck, and her Transmission pills, contained in a small tin in the shape of a lightning bolt (they allow the user to phase from one place to another instantly, as long as they are in a relative distance from each other). Pery went to his sphere to collect his father’s Fairy Finder- a long, sharp stone that would point to which ever fairy you had the most desire to find.
They warped from Pery’s orb back to the human world, and landed in a very cold place. They decided to Phase to fleas as to not be seen by anybody. Pery took his Fairy Finder and put it in the palm of his hand. It hovered above his palm, spun around a few times, and then pointed south.
“This way!” said Pery. They flew for miles and miles, but only a couple minutes had past. Fairy’s are extremely fast creatures. The Fairy Finder started to glow a faint green, which meant that they were coming closer to their target. They started to slow down as they reached an entrance to a snowy cave. After seeing that no one was around, they Phases back into themselves and entered the cave.
As they flew silently inside, Jenfie heard voices coming from deep inside.
“What do you suppose that is?” asked Jenfie.
“It sounds like my father! They must have found Stragen! They got him!” said Pery enthusiastically.
Pery sped up and followed the voices he heard. They reached an entrance, but it was blocked by a large block of ice. They looked through it and saw that inside it was a land that the cold could not reach. There was a small pond in the center, many tall trees covered in moss and bugs towards the sides of the room, and a large, colorful bird perched in one of the trees.
“I think its time to take our Transmission pills,” suggested Jenfie.
“Oh, good idea!” said Pery happily. He was trying to think of a way in until she said that. He was starting to get cold.
They both popped a pill in their mouth, and then transported right through the block of ice. It was warm inside the room. The room was much larger than it looked from the outside. They looked around, but saw nobody there. They flew deeper inside and hovered above the pond.
“Where did they go?” wondered Jenfie out loud.
Just then they felt a sharp pain everywhere inside them, and a dark red pyramid imprisoned them. They were trapped, and looked out at Stragen.
“Ha! You fool’s! Now look what you’ve got yourself into!”
As he flew closer, Pery and Jenfie could see other pyramids start to appear around the pond. Pery saw many members of the Fairy Protection Agency he knew trapped inside them. He did not, however, see his father.
“My friends. You’ve all come to celebrate my return, I presume?” sneered Stragen. “Yes. I have come back and I am more powerful than I have ever been. This time, I need no human to transform you all, for while I was away, I solved the mystery of the human’s deadly Shadow Curse. I am now able to perform it myself.
“You lie! No fairy could ever do such a thing! How are we to believe that” cried Babolie, a top Helper.
“You don’t believe me, Babolie? Come forth and see for yourself then.”
Babolie’s pyramid slowly dissolved and he slowly flew forth to meet Stragen. They both drifted above the blue water, glaring into each other’s eyes with fury. Then suddenly, Stragen turned his head away.
“You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life, Babolie. Prepare to live forever, not as a fairy, but as a repulsive moth!”
Stragen turned back his head and glared right into his eyes. Stragen’s eyes were glowing a fiery red- his face was turning gray and growing wrinkly. Before Babolie could let out a whimper, he sprouted great, big terrible wings and his body was slowly swallowed by a stone-grey cocoon, and was soon fluttering aimlessly around the room. Stragen’s eyes and face returned to normal and he was breathing heavily. The whole room cried and leaped back in their pyramids. It was as if Pery was just punched in the stomach. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I suggest you find a fire, Babolie, and fly through it- you will never find happiness or satisfaction again. As for you my friends, you have much to fear. There is no mistaking anything this time. I am warping to your world soon and will destroy them all!” threatened Stragen.
“Why would you do such a thing??” yelled Pery.
“Perigran, no!” cried Jenfie.
“What? Why would I do it? It’s quite obvious. You fairies are dedicated to helping those insolent humans! Humans are a plague to society! They are IDIOTS!! All they do is call upon us for help all the time for getting themselves into something they could have prevented had they a brain! I will bring down the humans and all who try to help them!”
Then Pery’s pyramid disappeared unexpectedly. He lingered over the pond in fear- utter fear. He saw the look in Stragen’s eyes and he knew he was about to perform the Shadow Curse again. He knew that the path of life as a fairy was over. He would soon join Babolie in being a moth.
“Ahh yes, the young Pery. The son of the man who banished me for two centuries. I will finally have my revenge. You have never felt such pain and agony of being a moth- you soon will. Nothing will matter anymore when you are transformed. Your life as a Helper will be finished for sure. Goodbye, adolescent one.”
Pery saw his head turn away again. He knew it was all over. His dream of becoming a top Helper was ripped to pieces by Stragen. What would his father think? Pery saw the colored bird in the tree. He would soon be just as pathetic as that bird. Once he transformed, he would have no more magic abilities, no more worries, no nothing. Once he transformed…
Suddenly a crazy idea entered Pery’s head. He could Phase. If the humans couldn’t transform him when he Phased, then did that mean Stragen couldn’t either? Pery had no other solution. He straightened up and Phased into nothing other than a moth, just as Stragen looked at him with his crimson eyes and colorless face.
He fluttered around wildly and aimlessly, trying to deceive Stragen. It worked.
“Ha! Worthless child. Your time has come, friends! I bid you farewell!”
Stragen turned his head one final time, but found that he was staring right at young Perigran. His arms were stretched out and his eyes were shut.
“You! How did you survive?! It’s not possible!” screamed Stragen.
“Silence you fiend!” yelled Pery right back at him.
Stragen stared angrily at Pery, whose blue uniform and silvery glow was shining brighter than ever. Then he saw a point forming above his head. Pery was creating a pyramid around Stragen. The point came down fast and covered Stragen. Pery opened his eyes and relaxed. He saw Stragen pushing against the walls of his pyramid.
“Yes! I beat you Stragen! Your reign ends today! I will find my father and he will banish you back into oblivion!”
Stragen laughed. “So...you Phased. You're smarter that I took you. Yet now I hear you speak of defeating me? Now I go back to what I thought of you in the first place! Perigran, you have proven to be quite brave, but also quite foolish. No one can contain me!”
Stragen broke into total concentration. Pery saw his triangle start to fade away. He felt as if he’d been hit by a truck. Then he heard a sound- a sound that was from the bird. The tropical bird in the tree was soaring towards Stragen. Pery wondered what it was doing; he didn’t want the bird to be killed by him. Then suddenly, the bird exploded, and there floated his father.
“Father!” cried Pery.
“Hello son! Quickly- cast the pyramid once more!” ordered his father.
Pery stretched out his arms and closed his eyes. He could hear the screams of Stragen being drowned by his weak, sluggish pyramid. He opened his eyes and began to seal the walls shut. He saw his father doing the same thing- strengthening his own curse.
Once the pyramid was shut, Stragen began pushing on the walls once more. He tried to break it once again, but it was useless. The father-son duo was too powerful for him to obliterate. Then, Pery’s father began breaking the other Helpers’ pyramids, one by one. Once released, they formed a circle around Stragen.
“Everyone- This time we will banish him to the Chamber of Darkness! On three! One! Two! Three!”
Pery and Jenfie saw beams of light soar from each of the fairies onto Stragen. He blazed a shiny black color. He was slowly becoming more and more transparent. Stragen let out one final cry, and then disappeared.
Pery and Jenfie floated over the pond in total admiration. Pery knew now that becoming a top Helper would be very difficult to do, especially with his father as tough as he was. Then, entire council turned and faced Perigran and Jenfie.
“Come- we must return and tell the city Stragen is gone,” said Pery’s father.
They all huddled together and concentrated on their world- the warping phase had begun. Pery soon found himself in his own orb, along with the entire council of the FPA. They turned and faced Perigran.
“Young Perigran”, said his father, “You have proven to be a smart, cunning, and brave young fairy. I speak to you now not only as your father, but as head of the Fairy Protection Agency. It takes great courage and talent to be a top Helper, and you have proven that you have more of these than all fairies your age. I feel that your time has come. I will now present you with the Red Garments and the Crest of Alorah. Come forth, son.
Pery couldn’t believe his ears. He had waited for this moment for years, and now it was finally happening. He slowly flew forward and met his father in the center of the room. The other members of the council gathered around. Jenfie had her Time-Taker out. His father conjured the garments out of thin air and handed them to Pery. He changed into them right away.
He looked magnificent. His baggy pants were a perfect fit and very comfortable. His shirt was so light it felt as though he wasn’t wearing one. He looked in a mirror and thought he looked very professional.
“You look great, Pery!” cheered Jenfie as her Time-Taker took a full body shot.
Pery walked toward his father and kneeled.
“I now present thee with the Crest of Alorah- the true symbol of a Helper. (Don’t loose this, Pery, or your honor will be forever lost, and I will, of course, ground you)” chuckled his father.
“I would never loose such a valuable item!” said Pery.
“Congratulations, son! You are now a top Helper!”
The whole room cheered for him. Pery had never been so happy in all of his life. He was now a top Helper. Him and Jenfie had gotten out safe, and Stragen was banished to an un-escapable chamber. All was right again in the fairy world.
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