“Bless you,” an older woman about Dr. Bradley’s age said when I let her out of her cell. “I thought I would be trapped in those horrid dreams forever.” Then she surprised me by pulling me into a warm hug. I couldn’t help wishing that my parents had hugged me like that when I’d found them.
No. I wouldn’t think about that now. Focus on the mission, Jenny, I told myself. Get everyone home.
When the last of the prisoners in the lab were free, I realized everyone was looking to me for instructions. Most of the prisoners were adventurers, but they were all still dazed and weak. It was up to me to figure out what to do.
First off, I had to get back to the storage room and meet up with Luken and the rest of my friends. Bringing all the adventurers with me wasn’t the best idea, but I didn’t know what else to do with them.
“Follow me,” I said, heading down the hallway. Behind me, a snake of people dressed in stiff hospital gowns followed. We would have made a pretty depressing parade.
We didn’t see any sign of fairies or leprechaun guards. Something about this whole thing felt too easy, but I tried to shake that thought out of my head. I’d nearly burned and electrocuted myself; that wasn’t exactly easy.
As we walked along the corridors, I noticed that the gray stone walls were starting to look faded. In a couple of spots, the walls had bright colors bleeding through.
“What’s happening here?” one of the prisoners asked as the hallway we were trudging down started to morph into a hall of mirrors.
“I think the theme park is coming back now that the queen’s magic is fading,” I said. I hoped that meant that one day the amusement park would come back completely, just like it had been before the queen took over the land.
When we got to the storage room, I couldn’t help laughing at what I saw. Luken and Belthum were wrenching open the last of the cages while Anthony stood in the middle of the hallway entertaining people with some truly terrible juggling. Meanwhile, Dr. Bradley was making sure everyone was all right, and Ilda was putting everyone in orderly lines, probably the way she’d done back in her teaching days.
Like me, the creatures were mostly back to their usual forms, with some glaring exceptions. Anthony looked like an average gnome again except for the big, round ears on the top of his head; Ilda had a long snout and whiskers; and Dr. Bradley had an extra leg that made him look like a tripod.
When Dr. Bradley and Anthony spotted my parents, they both stopped what they were doing and rushed over.
“Finally!” Anthony said, throwing his arms around my mom and dad. “It’s been way too long.”
Dr. Bradley was beaming. “It is so good to see you, my friends,” he said, once Anthony had released them.
My parents smiled weakly, obviously perplexed.
“They have amnesia,” I explained. “They don’t remember anyone. Not even…” I cleared my throat. “Not even me.”
“Oh my,” said Dr. Bradley. “That is unfortunate.”
Anthony gave my elbow a sympathetic squeeze. “Their memories will come back. Magic messes with people, but usually they come out okay.”
My brain fixed on that word: usually. I didn’t care what usually happened. I wanted my parents to be okay right now. But what could I do?
“All right,” I said. “Now that everyone’s been freed, we have to find a way out of here.”
Just then, the door to the storage room crashed open all by itself, like it had been pushed by a huge gust of wind. Then a blinding glow filled the room, and the Queen Fairy appeared, shining just as brightly as she had before. And she wasn’t alone. An entire army of fairies stood behind her.
We were trapped.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“What do we do, Jenny-girl?” said Anthony.
“We fight,” I said. “What else can we do?”
“Negotiate,” said Luken. “I will make my mother listen to me.”
I doubted that would work, but it was worth a try. Not all the fairies were magic-hungry monsters, after all. Luken had proven that.
As everyone else stared at the army of fairies, frozen, Luken went over to Mahlia.
“Mother, please,” I heard him say. “We do not want to fight. We only want what is fair.”
Mahlia appeared at a loss for words as she looked between her son and the queen. Maybe there was a chance we could reason with the fairies.
“There will be no negotiation,” the Queen Fairy announced.
Or maybe not.
“Sweetness,” said Anthony, stepping forward. “Please, consider what you’re doing.”
The queen ignored him. Clearly, she was done thinking she needed a prince by her side. “The leprechaun uprising has been contained,” she went on, glaring at me. “You no longer have any allies here. Surrender to us.” She didn’t sound anything like Cinderella anymore. Now she was one hundred percent evil stepmother.
I swallowed, thinking of Karfum and the other leprechauns. Whatever the queen meant by “contained,” it couldn’t be good.
“Or what?” I said, going to stand beside Luken. “We woke up all your precious magic magnifiers. You might still be glowing, but you don’t have all your power.”
The queen let out a hollow laugh. “That is nothing to me. I have consumed nearly all the magic in existence. I am still powerful enough to dispose of all of you.”
I had a feeling she wasn’t exaggerating. Our plan might have worked to weaken the magic, but it hadn’t been nearly enough to bring her down.
A murmur passed through the fairy army. The soldiers were staring at the Queen Fairy with wide eyes. For most of them, this was probably the first time they’d ever seen her. And there she was, glowing with power, admitting that she’d kept most of the stolen magic for herself instead of giving it to her people.
Just then, the citywide intercom went off. Bing! “A reminder,” the overly cheerful voice said, “that the weekly parade is about to begin. Attendance is mandatory. Enjoy!”
The intercom fell silent, and the fairies shifted uncomfortably. They were so used to obeying all the intercom instructions that they obviously had no idea what to do.
Hmmm. Maybe the parade could be my chance to show everyone exactly what the queen had been up to.
“Luken,” I whispered. “I need you to transport me to the parade.”
He stared at me, his eyes full of disbelief. “But, Jenny—”
“Please!” I hissed. “Use the magic just this once. Even if it’s stolen, it’s the only way. We won’t have another chance.”
He still didn’t look convinced.
“I know you’re afraid you’ll wind up like the other fairies,” I continued in a whisper. “But you’re not like them. You want to make things right, and so do I. The only way we can do that is to pop out of here and go up to that parade!”
“Luken!” Mahlia called. “Step away from that adventurer and come here.”
He looked between me and his mother. Then he closed his eyes, grabbed my hand, and—pop!—we were out of there.
After a moment of mind-numbing spinning, we emerged in the middle of Main Street just as the parade was starting. It was a shock to be outside again, away from the queen. Everything around us was too bright and sharp, like I was seeing it through too-strong glasses.
Grinning fairies lined the street as floats went by at molasses speed. I’d expected the floats to be filled with waving fairies, but they were totally deserted. One was just a platform that was magically spewing bubbles into the air. Another was violently shooting glitter toward the sidewalk, into the spectators’ faces. I had never seen bubbles and glitter look so un-festive. No wonder the Queen Fairy had to force everyone to come to the parades. There was nothing fun about them. On one of the palace walls, the parade was being broadcast for everyone to see.
A float shaped like Cinderella’s carriage r
olled past and everyone around us bowed. Unlike the pumpkin-shaped taxis, this one was much larger and had glitter-covered windows so it was impossible to see inside. No doubt this was the float the Queen Fairy used to travel around the land without anyone seeing how much power she’d stolen for herself.
“Now what?” said Luken. “It will not take long for the queen to find us.”
As I watched an image of the carriage broadcast on the palace wall, I realized that the screen was showing a spot near us.
“Come on!” I said, pulling him toward the center of the street.
Just as we got there, a loud Pop! echoed around us. I didn’t need to turn around to see who had appeared. I could feel the queen’s magic bouncing off my skin.
“Enough of this!” the Queen Fairy said.
When I spun around, I saw that Mahlia had also appeared with my parents by her side. My mom and dad still looked disoriented, but at least they weren’t hurt.
I took a deep breath and stepped up to face the queen. “Look at you,” I said loudly. “You take all the magic for yourself and make everyone ration theirs. You’re practically exploding with magic, and yet you tell everyone that there’s not enough to go around. You take away all the fairy traditions and lock your people away in factories, while you sit around eating magic like it’s popcorn!”
A wave of whispers passed through the crowd around us, and the queen’s eyes shot up to the screen. There, on the side of the palace, the queen’s glowing head was displayed for everyone to see, and they’d just heard every word that I’d said.
For once, the fairies were getting a good, long look at their queen. Maybe now they’d finally realize just what kind of leader she was.
“That cannot be the queen!” someone called. “Her carriage just passed by.”
“Um, hello,” I called back. “The carriage was empty. This is the real queen. I mean, look at her! Seeing is believing, right?”
The whispers were more furious this time. Maybe one of my cheesy sayings had finally done the trick.
“Silence,” the queen said, raising a glowing hand. The fairies obeyed. “All I have done has been for you, my people. Never forget that.” She turned back to me. “Now let us stop this foolishness. I have been more than patient with you, and my offer still stands. If you lead me to the Committee’s location, I shall let you and your parents go free.”
I glanced at my parents, who were watching the whole scene with confused eyes. I couldn’t let the queen put them right back into that lab, not after I’d just found them. I couldn’t! And yet…
“What about everyone else?” I said. “You need to let everyone in the Magical Village go back to their worlds and give the leprechauns back their pots of gold.”
“Done,” the queen said. “They are nothing to me.”
“And release all the adventurers,” I went on. “They’re not your batteries. You can’t just use them whenever you feel like it.”
The Queen Fairy seemed to think this over. “Very well. Once I have the Committee’s power, I will no longer need all those specimens. Even without them, I will be the most powerful entity in the magical kingdoms. And then my true prince and I will rule them together.” Clearly, she didn’t mean Anthony.
I thought of the dozens of creatures who had been imprisoned here for years. Even if the queen freed all the prisoners, what was to stop her from going to another world and enslaving everyone just like she’d done with the leprechauns? The Committee was the only group that had any chance of stopping her from doing that kind of thing again. If the Committee was gone, then the Queen Fairy could do whatever she wanted.
“Decide,” said the queen. “Decide now or your chance is over. I will not let anything stand in the way of my happy ending!”
My breath caught in my throat. Hearing the queen echo the same words that I’d thought to myself so many times—how I needed, wanted, deserved a happily-ever-after—was like a slap in the face. Was I just as horrible as she was?
No. I wasn’t. The Queen Fairy was willing to sacrifice all of the magical worlds for her happy ending. But I could never do something like that.
Even if it meant giving up on the one dream I’d had for so much of my life.
Even if it meant losing my family forever.
“Fine,” I said, closing my eyes to keep tears from escaping. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“Jenny!” Luken cried. “No!”
But I’d made up my mind. “You can have my parents.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Everyone, including the Queen Fairy, stared at me in shock.
I felt like my head was underwater. I’d always thought I’d do whatever it took to bring my family back together. But not this.
“I’m an adventurer, just like my parents,” I said. “I know they would never want me to make a deal that hurt anyone. I know they’d rather die than see the magical worlds destroyed. And I would rather die than do anything to make them ashamed of me.”
“You would rather die?” the Queen Fairy screamed. “Then die!” She held up a glowing hand, aimed right at my chest. I didn’t even have time to jump out of the way.
As I saw the beam of glowing energy shooting at me, I felt strangely calm. All I could think was that even if I never got to hear them say it, I knew my parents would be proud of me for putting the magical worlds first. Just like an adventurer was supposed to do.
As the beam was about to hit, I felt someone shove me out of the way.
“Oof!” I hit the ground as the energy whizzed by and fizzled out.
I realized that the person pinning me to the ground, shielding me with his own body, was my dad. “Are you all right?” he said.
Before I could answer, something like a battle cry echoed all around us, and the street erupted with pounding footsteps.
“The leprechauns!” Luken cried.
Sure enough, dozens of rainbow-colored beams shot through the air, aimed at the Queen Fairy. She waved off the energy beams like they were mosquitoes.
My dad pulled me to my feet. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
“I’m fine,” I said, ushering him behind a nearby float for protection.
As the energy beams continued to fly, some of the fairies in the crowd jumped forward to defend the queen, but others joined the leprechauns in the fight. Alongside them were tons of creatures—including mermaids, pixies, and trolls—armed with everything from oysters to shoehorns. I saw Pryll leading the charge beside Karfum. The time for peaceful strikes was over. Finally, the creatures had found a way to work together, and they were determined to defeat the queen.
“What do we do?” I heard Mahlia cry.
“Nothing,” said the queen, continuing to deflect the energy beams like they were spitballs. “Their magic will run out soon.”
But she was wrong. As one line of fighters used up their magic ration, another line came forward to keep up the attack, while the creatures without magic helped in any way they could. There was no stopping them.
At Karfum’s side, I spotted Belthum and three other young leprechauns fighting furiously. It looked like Karfum had finally managed to get his children back, and there was no way he was going to let anyone take them again.
As the charging crowd grew bigger and more determined, the Queen Fairy suddenly seemed terrified. Then an energy beam hit her right in the arm, setting her sleeve on fire. She howled and darted toward Mahlia.
Pop! The two of them disappeared.
“I need to go after the queen,” I told my dad. “Stay here.”
“No, we’ll help you,” my mom said, rushing to my side. At that moment, it didn’t matter if my parents remembered me or not. All that mattered was that we were adventurers, and we had a job to do. Together.
As the three of us dashed down the street, I caught sight of Karfum and Luken shouting out
orders as more of the queen’s fairies tried to attack. I was glad to see that some of the fairies were putting down their weapons and surrendering to the leprechauns. It looked like they were sick of being prisoners in their own land.
After weaving around an abandoned pumpkin taxi, my parents and I finally got to the palace and charged inside.
“Where do we go?” my dad said.
“Top floor. The Queen Fairy’s quarters,” I said. “I don’t know where else she would be.” I led my parents to the elevator, but it didn’t open. Either the magic knew not to let us inside, or there wasn’t enough of it to run the palace anymore.
Great. Now what?
“Maybe we can climb up somehow?” my mom asked.
“The slides!” Luken had told me the slides in the palace usually ran alongside the elevator shafts. After I explained to my parents what to look for, we scoured the hallway for one of the hidden panels.
As my dad and I searched every inch of the wall, I couldn’t help glancing over at him. Standing next to him was pretty much the best thing ever.
He must have seen me looking at him, because he gave me a little smile. “Once this is all over, we’ll have to catch up,” he said.
I nodded. Hopefully, reminding my parents of the life they’d left behind would help spark their memories. But I’d have to worry about that later. Right now all that mattered was—
“Found it!” my mom called.
We hurried over to where she was pointing to a nearly invisible button that was the exact color as the wall. When I pressed it, the panel swung open, revealing a slide very similar to the one Luken had shown me.
I peeked inside, trying to judge how far up it went. It curved almost right away, so that I couldn’t see anything.
“It probably goes all the way to the top floor,” I said. “Just like the other ones. But I have no idea how to do anything except slide down.” I stuck my hand inside, hoping to feel some sort of magic whooshing past, but the air was still.
My parents smiled at each other like they had a private joke between them. It had been so long that I’d forgotten a lot about my parents, but I remembered that smile. It meant they had something good up their sleeves.
My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending Page 10