Magic

  ( Newbie )

  The cocoon was not as she remembered. It was slippery and squelchy. How did she even get back inside? It didn't matter. She needed to escape.

  She tried to kick and claw, but found neither fingers nor toes. She tried to scream, but no sound escaped her maw.

  In frenzied desperation, she sank her teeth into chewy walls. She struggled and squirmed until chunks ripped free. Slimy sludge oozed down her retching throat, again and again.

  There was someone she had to reach. A light she had to protect.

  Newbie's fists and feet beat at the feeble prison until it flew from her body.

  Heavy lids separated to watch the airborne bedsheet drift to the vast, empty floor like a defeated ghost. With a loud groan and her heart still hammering, she fell back against the pillow. Terrible nightmares had plagued her night. Now the first rays of morning were making themselves known beyond her window, yet she felt more tired than when she'd first gone to bed.

  When she wiggled and jiggled to the edge of the bouncy mattress on a quest to retrieve the sheet, her bleary eyes detected something she’d missed in the nocturnal shade. Two faint sunken squares lay nestled within the otherwise cushy carpet.

  Curiosity trumped comfort, and Newbie immediately rolled off of the bed. With the vial of faefire in hand, she lowered to the floor and peered beneath the frame, searching for clues as to why the four-poster had been moved.

  Deeper and deeper she burrowed, her free hand sweeping plush fibres in search of some hidden passage. She wasn’t sure whether to be more disappointed or relieved when the only thing she found was a pale blue stain, small and slight. Stroking it scattered dusty particles.

  What is that?

  Conk-conk-conk.

  Newbie’s gaze darted to the distant door. Despite doing nothing wrong, her subconscious opted to panic. A lurch caused her skull to thump against the bed, momentarily lifting the entire frame with her fresh fairy strength.

  One wince and a mad scramble later, Newbie had escaped the underworld. She brushed off her jammies and shook her hair into shape before calling out. “I’m awake!”

  “Ahoy-hoy!" sang Merrymint from outside. "It's the start of another beautiful day! Let's goooooo!"

  Joy bent Newbie’s lips. Even at this early hour, her Mentor's enthusiasm was infectious.

  "Nightmares? Golly..." said Merrymint. "I did consider warning you, but then I kinda thought if I mentioned bad dreams, it might put them in your head even more, y'know? I hoped you might get lucky, I guess."

  "They're not uncommon then?" asked Newbie.

  She watched Cherrychomp wrestle a jug of sloshing milk. With tongue protruding and brows furrowed in concentration, she slowly tipped it toward her cereal. A cascade of milk sent oats and raisins swimming across the dining table.

  "We all get them," said Merrymint. "It's probably a side-effect of the metamorphosis. Brains aren't supposed to be dormant for so long, right?"

  Cherrychomp plunged her face into the overflowing bowl and slurped noisily.

  Puddingpuff smirked. "You do realise you're on cleaning duty today, Imp?"

  Cherrychomp lifted her face from the bowl, wide-eyed and dripping. "No! No, can't be!"

  Puddingpuff gave a smug nod.

  "No, no, no!" The breakfast spread rattled as Cherrychomp kicked. She snapped her head from side to side, whipping pigtails and flinging soggy cereal.

  "Sorry, Cherry', it is your turn," said Merrymint.

  "B-b-but!" Cherrychomp's eyes started to shimmer. "Newbie's doin' her magic today!"

  "So?" asked Merrymint.

  "I w-wanna 'elp Newbie m-make it snowinnnnn'!" Cherrychomp started to sob. Tears turned cloudy as they combined with milky droplets upon rosy cheeks.

  I don't even know if I can do that yet...

  "Hey-hey-hey!" sang Merrymint. "Cherry', what happened yesterday?"

  "N-Newbie emerged," Cherrychomp blubbered.

  "Y'know what that means?" asked Merrymint. "You're not the youngest anymore. You're a big sister now."

  Cherrychomp blinked teary eyes. "Am... a Big Sis'?" she whimpered. "Jus' like you?"

  "That's right! And do big sisters cry over every silly little thing?" asked Merrymint.

  Cherrychomp's swimming peepers pressed to a close. She took a big sniff, as if trying to pull the tears back inside. "No. Big Sis' are brave."

  "Attagirl!" said Merrymint.

  Newbie peered back at the palace as she and Merrymint made their way down the hillside. Cherrychomp's nose and inflated cheeks were pressed to the dining room window.

  "Doesn't the palace have any cleaners?" asked Newbie.

  "Queeny prefers us to do our own chores," said Merrymint. "She says everyone should know what it's like to tidy up, so they know not to make a mess in the first place..."

  Newbie tried to wave to the squash-faced fairy, only to receive a wobbly lower lip in return.

  "...I guess some learn quicker than others," said Merrymint.

  "Has she always been so..." Newbie searched for the right word.

  Childish? No, I can't say that. Immature? Silly?

  "Energetic? Excitable? Adorable?" asked Merrymint.

  "Uhm... yes! All three!" Newbie nodded.

  "Pretty much!" said Merrymint. "Since emerging, at least. I don't know about before, obviously. The metamorphosis isn't perfect."

  "What do you mean?" asked Newbie.

  Merrymint flicked her spectacles. "Well, if it were, then I wouldn't need these!"

  "Fair point," said Newbie. "How exactly does it work?"

  "Supposedly it's a reflection of our hearts. Queeny says fairy magic is fuelled by love."

  "Huh..." Newbie slowed to a stop.

  After a moment, Merrymint did too. "What's up?"

  Newbie looked around to double check they were alone. "Do you remember anything from before? Anything?"

  Merrymint smiled cheerfully. "Gosh, not really. I have... I suppose you could call them feelings? As in, I feel like I was part of a family. I feel like I loved them, and I feel like they loved me. But who knows! I've thought about it so much that these days it's hard to tell what's linked to genuine memory and how much I've just imagined since. You?"

  "Nothing. Doesn't it bother you?"

  "It did at first, but the metamorphosis is unpredictable. Some of those cocoons have been hanging up there for centuries supposedly! So, like, the human lifespan... well, you get what I'm saying, right? Even if our old families are still around, I doubt they'd recognise these twinkly eyes and flashy hair."

  "Sure..." sighed Newbie. She wished the concerns lurking within her chest could be exhaled with the same ease.

  "Besides, we've a new family now," said Merrymint. "There's no way I'd go back if it meant losing you, Cherry' and everyone else!"

  Newbie forced a smile. Her new life came with so many perks. The last thing she wanted was to seem ungrateful.

  "Attagirl!" cheered Merrymint. "Now let's go squeeze some snow outta you!"

  Magic was already in the air when the pair entered Candy Town.

  Broken slabs and piles of debris shrank away whilst chocolate buttons melted to seal cracks. Biscuit walls rumbled, growing fresh crumble to replace that which had tumbled. Just as Merrymint had said the day before, Candy Town would soon be grand once more.

  Stood by the caramel fountain at the town's centre was a man, but not of flesh and blood. Rather, he was a gent of gingerbread. A dapper suit and tie was iced upon his spiced form. In one fingerless limb he wielded a striped candy cane. He waved it this way and that, spreading a sparkly mist of sugar crystals.

  "Ahoy-hoy, Candy Dandy!" called Merrymint.

  "Ho-ho! Salutations, Princess Merrymint." His voice was as thick as treacle. "And who do we have here? I do not believe I have had the pleasure."

  "Newbie, sir." She introduced herself with a bow.

  "Ho-ho, of course! An honour to make your acquaintance, but please, I am but a humble servant. You needn't refer to me as sir."

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Newbie wrinkled her brow. "You're not fairy royalty?"

  "Ho-ho! A mayor maybe, but neither fairy nor royal."

  "But all that twinkling..." Newbie squinted at the partially repaired structures. "I thought only fairies could cast magic?"

  "Ho-ho! Quite right." Candy Dandy swung the striped cane, stirring up a shine. "This may be magic, but it is not my own."

  "So it's the cane that's magical?" asked Newbie.

  Merrymint beamed a smile. "Excellent, my protégé! As you've seen, fairy magic can take all kinds of different forms. Sometimes it affects the body, like Puddin's mouth, other times it can be projected like Bubble's bubbles, and in rare cases it even requires external reagents, like Cherry's cherries! It can even take the form of a specific tool, like a wand. Candy Dandy's Candy Town Candy Cane once belonged to a legendary Fairy Princess."

  "Ho-ho, indeed! For centuries, Princess Sweetswirl's magic was channelled through this very instrument. Even to this day, a trace of her power remains within."

  "Wow!" Newbie took a step back. Now that she was aware of the stick's value, the last thing she wanted to do was damage it. "Where is she now?"

  "Oh, I'm afraid she has long passed," said Candy Dandy.

  "I... I'm so sorry," said Newbie.

  I guess not every fairy lives eternal...

  "Ho-ho! Quite alright. You see, I owe my very existence to that tragedy. Princess Sweetswirl was so loyal to Queen Titania that even in her final moments, she thought only of how best to serve. So it was that she created me, to continue wielding the Candy Cane for as long as we both last."

  So... he's living magic?

  Newbie felt her features widen with amazement. "You're just like a Muncher!"

  "Ho-ho!" Candy Dandy chuckled. "I like to think I'm a slight wiser than those mindless devourers, but yes!"

  "That's incredible!" said Newbie.

  I wonder if the same is true for Dollymop and Mister Bear?

  "Ho-ho! I'm thrilled you think so," said Candy Dandy. "So, how may I help you both on this most marvellous of mornings?"

  "We were hoping to borrow a street, if you wouldn't mind?" asked Merrymint. "We're going to try and wrangle Newbie's magic."

  "Ho-ho! But of course, Princesses. I would never stand in the way of our queendom's brave protectors! Just... try not to break too much. I have to get this place ready for your practice this evening, after all."

  It seemed Candy Dandy had not only been working to repair the damage caused by yesterday's battle, but was also changing the layout of Candy Town itself. A significant number of the cocoa paved streets had sunk to make way for sloshing streams.

  Newbie approached one of the waterways. She knelt down and tugged a glove off, then dipped her fingertips beneath the crystal current. Subtle heat greeted her digits. "Ohh. That's nice. Guess it'll come in useful if I get cold hands. Kinda lucky, huh?"

  Merrymint held an extended smile. "...Yep! Lucky for now," she finally said.

  "Huh? Why only now?"

  Merrymint shook her head. "Forget I said anything!"

  Well that's frustrating. I got all curious...

  "But hey! Lucky is lucky," said Merrymint. "Though, for the time being," she clapped her hands together twice, "on with the show! It's magic time, baby!"

  Newbie sighed and straightened. She rolled her shoulders and flexed her fingers.

  I guess this is it! Time to discover my magic for real!

  "Right! ...So, how do I start?"

  Merrymint flicked her spectacles and smiled knowingly. She made quite the performance of spinning her theatrical stave before thrusting it high into the air. Her body held the dramatic pose for several seconds. Then several more. Then...

  "...Merrymint?" asked Newbie.

  "I have no idea!" the emerald princess finally admitted.

  "Huh?"

  "Good golly, what's with that face? You've seen already, right? Every Fairy Princess' magic is completely different, and you've gotta figure out what works best for you. There's no rulebook on this. Magic's kinda whimsical, y'know?"

  Newbie tilted her head to one side. "Hm. You can project wind from your hands, correct?"

  "Bingo!" Merrymint snapped her fingers. "Honestly, channelling through the hands is super convenient if you can pull it off."

  "Ah-huh. Then what's your stick for?"

  Merrymint waved the showman's stave up and down. "Sometimes you gotta bonk a thing."

  "Huh..."

  "So, go ahead and try whatever feels natural. When you first emerged you frosted up that window with your breath, right? Maybe just start by blowing?"

  Newbie nodded. She braced herself and searched for the chill she'd felt during her first taste of magic and prepared to expel a glacial blizzard. Fists clenched within wintry gloves and lungs sucked until her chest puffed. Then, fuelled by determination, she blew with all her might!

  "Pffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-p-p-p..."

  Cheeks deflated until her efforts petered to nothing more than a wet raspberry. No snow flurry. No icy vortex. Nothing. She was left standing in awkward silence.

  "Awesome try!" encouraged Merrymint.

  "Nothing happened!" whined Newbie.

  "But a great effort! No one said this would be easy. Do you feel anything?"

  "Out of breath." Newbie shrugged.

  "Ok. What about back in the Nursery? What were you thinking?"

  Newbie winced and replayed the event in her head. "We were looking out over the queendom. It was all so hard to believe. But once I finally accepted it... well, it was like a dream come true! I felt a rush in my heart, and then... cold."

  "Hm..." Merrymint stroked her chin in thought. "If fairy magic is emotional then maybe focusing on the heart is a better idea?"

  "Right!"

  Hours passed to no avail. If concentrating on her heartbeat wasn't the key, then they figured perhaps she just needed the right stance. Newbie tried mimicking poses and actions she'd witnessed the other Fairy Princesses perform, and even her own variations.

  Once they'd run out of what seemed like sensible ideas, Merrymint joined Newbie in trying the sillier ones so she'd feel less foolish. Together they gritted their teeth, then screamed until they felt dizzy. They shuffled, stomped, sniffed, spat and spun. One moment they performed handstands, the next they rolled into balls. They hopped on one leg while winking their left eye, then the right, then both. If anyone had witnessed the display, they'd think them both quite mad.

  As noon approached, Newbie was starting to feel discouraged. She slumped down upon a marshmallow stool. Her derriere sank into its squashiness.

  "Let's look on the bright side," chirped Merrymint. "We haven't damaged anything!"

  "I guess," sighed Newbie.

  Merrymint tilted her head with concern. "You wanna call it quits for today?"

  "Not yet," said Newbie. "I really want to make some progress. You said it took Cherrychomp weeks, right? What about the others?"

  "You'd have to ask them," said Merrymint. "Only you and Cherry' emerged after me. Everyone else already had things figured out by the time I arrived."

  Newbie considered the displays of magical prowess she'd witnessed during the fight with Mister Bear. "Sunshine's magic is her ability to fly, right?"

  "Yep, and she uses her wings to channel that magic!" said Merrymint. "I mean, those feathers are pretty and all, but they'd have to be way larger for her to zoom around if magic wasn't involved. Supposedly her eyes are amazing too."

  "Her eyes? Like, her vision?" asked Newbie.

  "Yeah! Most of us have empowered bodies and enhanced senses, right? Well, some get luckier than others."

  So we're not all metamorphosed equal...

  "What about Cutiehorn?" asked Newbie. "I didn't see her use magic yesterday."

  "Well... Cutie' is a special case," said Merrymint. "She doesn't seem to have much."

  Newbie tensed. "What? That can happen?"

  "Apparently!" Merrymint shrugged. "Queeny got wings and fire, right? But not everyone is so lucky. Cutie's got a spike on her head and... well, I guess that's that."

  "Wow. I had no idea," said Newbie. "And yet she still charged right at Mister Bear."

  "Oh yeah. She works real hard!"

  Newbie peered down at her gloves and formed fists. "To emerge with so little magic. That just seems unfair..."

  "Heck, don't you go worrying! We already know you've got magic in you. We just gotta figure how to tempt it out. Maybe we should take the afternoon off so you can think things through. Y'know, a bit of soul-searching. Self-reflection. Whatever -"

  Newbie raised a hand to interrupt. She struggled up from the smushy seat and made for the waterway.

  "What's up?" asked Merrymint.

  "Back in the Nursery, I caught sight of my reflection in the window. That was when I got my first taste of magic."

  "Ohh, I get it! Well golly, it's worth a shot!"

  Together they leaned over the gently sloshing stream to meet with their rippling counterparts. Newbie examined the soft, blush features once more, whilst snowflake pupils peered back up at her. It was like gazing into the eyes of a stranger, yet one that mimicked her every action.

  "Anything?" asked Merrymint.

  Newbie sucked up an unsteady breath, pursed her lips and tried blowing once more, only to emit a quiet, deflating whistle. "...I don't get it."

  Merrymint bumped her shoulder. "Don't stress it, Newb'! There's always tomorrow."

  Newbie's reflection frowned.

  Where are you, magic? You're in there. I know you're in there. Are you sleeping? Well, it's time to wake up now. I'm a Fairy Princess! I have to prove myself. I have to be strong. I have to be useful! So come on, magic, let's show the world what we can do!

  In truth, Newbie hadn't expected a response. Her introspection had been more in desperation than belief. Yet, to her surprise, she felt something stir within. Something cold. Something dark. Something magical.