Birth of the Fairy of the City - Chapter 2

Episode 2 - Journey to RedFountain

After a terrible nightmare in which her sister visited her for help, Ella decided to journey to Red Fountain to speak with Headmaster Salador and other members of the elite private academy about what may have really happened to her sister. Her journey there will lead to unusual clues...and another visit from her sister.

Ella brought her small suitcase down the stairs the next morning. Her mother was in the same place as always, eyes glued to some game show. "Mom," Ella tried to get her attention. "Mooooom. Mom!"

Her mother's eyes flicked over to her, then down to the suitcase at her feet. "Ella," she yawned. "What is that? Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving for Red Fountain. I'll be back in two days."

"Red Fountain?!" she exclaimed. Her eyes, puffy from exhaustion and despair, narrowed. "Why, Ella?"

"To find out what happened to my sister."

Her mother said nothing, but her eyes seemed to well up.

"Look mom, I don't want to go into too many details, but let's just say that she's here with us, with me. She wants me to go. She wants me to find out what happened to her and turn the right into a wrong."

Her mother continued to stare at her, listening but not really hearing what her daughter had to say.

"So I'm going. I'll see you soon."

"But what about school?"

"It's the weekend, mom."

"Ohhhh," she leaned forward, sagging over her knees. "Ella, don't torture yourself over this. We know what happened to Swift, and nothing you can do will ever bring her back."

"Damn it, mother! Do you really think moaning and moping about it all day long will change anything either?"

Her mother gasped at this, as the words truly began to sink in.

"I'm sorry, mom," Ella replied, turning towards the door. "But it's the truth."

Her mother didn't say anything back. She only stared at the foot of the stairs.

…

As Ella boarded the shuttle that would take her deeper into the Magix Dimension, she couldn't help but think about her mother. She settled into her seat near the back of the shuttle, by a window as usual. As the jets of the shuttle flared up and the rearing sound of rushing air filled the shuttle's interior, people shuffled into their seats. Ella stared out the window as the shuttle took off and headed for Fyura Ratchett's cloud coverings. "Damn it, Mother," the words came back to her. "Do you really think moaning and moping about it all day long will change anything?"

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that," she muttered to herself.

No. Her mother needed to hear the truth.

The shuttle was leaving the city far behind. Even the tops of the city's tallest buildings were growing smaller and smaller and the clouds around them farther and farther away as they gained altitude. The jets hummed beneath the floor of her feet, and Ella realized that this was the first time she had been away from Fyura Ratchett in a long time.

But would she really be okay back home? now that Swift was...gone, if something happened to Ella it would be too much to bear.

"Why am I thinking like this?" she thought. "Nothing's going to happen. I'll be fine."

But she couldn't help but shake the nagging feeling at the back of her neck that something was definitely off about the situation.

They were in space now. Ella watched as distant planets passed by. The shuttle neared one in particular, a dense, cold surface Ella knew to be the Omega Dimension. She shuddered at the sight of it. Only Magix worst got sent there.

The rest of the trip went smooth.

...

"Wow, look at the size of this place," Ella said as she stood at the entrance to Red Fountain, looking up at it. "But, there are still way bigger buildings in Fyura Ratchett."

She looked around. "I wonder if I can speak to Headmaster Salador, or at least someone who can take me to him."

It was then that she noticed two tall boys coming her direction. One had black hair cut short, with a spiky green cropping that looked like grass sprouts on the top of his head near his forehead. The other had dark skin and hazel eyes. She waited until they came closer to her. "Hey, what's this?" one of the guys said. "You lost or something?"

"No, actually, I'm not," she replied. "I was wondering if I could talk to Salador. Do I need an appointment or something?"

The boy with the mohawk started to laugh. "What for? You plannin' on enrolling or something, girl?"

Ella narrowed her eyes. "And so what if I was! What the hell's wrong with that?!"

"Yeah, quit quiddin' around," mohawk man grabbed his stomach, laughing from his gut. "All we need is another-"

"Quill.." his friend hissed at him.

"Y'know what?!" Ella yelled, too angry to notice what he had just said. "All I need to know is how I can arrange a meeting with your headmaster? Is that so friggin' difficult?!"

"Hey. You don't get to talk to Salador, until we say you can talk to him," Quill said, stepping towards her.

"Hey, you'd better back off, because I'm not really in the mood to-"

"What's going on here?" a gentle voice cut through.

The two men parted as a taller figure approached them. This one was a male with long, wavy blonde hair and piercing, blue eyes. He had a neatly trimmed fu manchu as well and a very serious smile that broadened when he saw Ella.

"I'm sorry," he said. "We're my two friends upsetting you?"

"Uh, yeah, actually they were."

"My apologies...again."

"And who are you exactly?"

"I'm Lind. I'm a student here at Red Fountain and so are my two friends, Quill and Jameson. Are you a relative of one of the students here?"

"You might say that," she smirked. "Look, all I want to know is how I can talk to Salador. It's an urgent matter." But something inside her said not to say anymore.

"Well, my dear lady," Lind strolled towards her. "You can have anything you desire. Unfortunately, if you want to talk to Salador, you'll have to fill out an application for an appointment on our school's website. I assume you know it already. I'll mention it to him as well, next time we meet."

"Uh, thanks. Yeah, I have it somewhere," Ella said. Lind was standing beside her.

"No problem, of course." He reached his hand down to lay it on her shoulder...

..and that's when Ella felt it. A curious energy streaking through the air and snaking itself around her body.

Lind's hand froze.

The wind shifted around them.

Then it was gone but Lind had withdrawn his hand by that time.

"What was that?" Ella thought. "Swift...?"

"Well, uh, it was nice meeting you, Miss, uh..."

"Ella..." she said, distracted.

"Ella, but my friends and I must get to class. Take care." They started to head for the building.

Ella continued to stand there, feeling the wind at her back and wondering what to do next.

…

"Ella...! Ella...! Can you hear me?"

Ella was floating in darkness. Her sister's voice filled the air around her.

"Swift...? Is that you?"

"Ella, I need you to listen to me. I need you to recall..."

"Swift! Was that you that I felt earlier...?"

Her sister didn't answer.

"Swift..!"

"I need you to recall...recall that night when we last talked..!"

She was floating towards something. Something glowing. Something blue. It was that computer monitor from her previous dream. Hanging in the blackness, blue light illuminating the space in front of it.

Suddenly, she was back in that scene. The last scene in her room where she had been talking to her sister. This time it played from the beginning...

She tapped the computer button and the screen popped up. Her sister was there, smiling. "Hey Ella."

"Swift," Ella flopped on her bed, belly down, facing the screen. "How's it going? Those boys treating you better yet?"

"Yeah, it was just a friendly rivalry going on. They're alright now. Especially..." And Swift blushed a little.

"Especially...who?" Ella smirked.

"No one..no one important..."

"Yeah, right. There's someone important...Do you have a crush on someone? For the first time?" Ella teased.

"Stop it, Ella! I do not...anyway..I'm going out tonight. It's a club. I was invited by those guys. There's gonna be drinking and dancing and some games. It's going to be so much fun."

"Oh great. Well, be careful, Swift. You know how boys can get..."

"Don't worry," Swift sighed. "These guys aren't like the jerks back on Fyura Ratchett. They're actual gentleman."

"Good for you. That's what you need."

"Come on Ella, I'll be fine...Now, I'm going...Don't worry about me. You should be happy for me. Because I'm happy for the first time in my life."

And Ella had to truly smile back at her sister. Yeah..it seemed that way...she was glad...

"You coming, Swift?" a husky voice said from the distance behind Swift.

Suddenly Ella froze. That voice...It sounded so familiar...

"Yeah, Jameson. Just give me a few minutes..."

"Sure!"

Jameson...that name...

Suddenly the scene vanished. Ella was floating in darkness yet again. "Those guys.." she thought.

"Swift!" She called to her sister in the darkness. "Just tell me, are you alive or dead?!"

"That's for you to discover, Ella..."

"Why can't you just tell me what happened to you?"

But it was too late. Ella was awake, sweating again into the pillow in her hotel room.