3. The Fairies' Glade

{Alessia}

*Coughs*

"Wake up, wake up Sia." A voice called to me softly.

The minute I opened my eyes, it felt like I was in heaven, that's if night creatures do go to heaven.

I was laying on a soft bed and the smell of flowers tickled my nostrils.

Everywhere was so bright, the air was cool and I noticed trees surrounding us.

The person who had been calling me dripped a sweet liquid into my mouth and I lapped it up immediately.

My eyes cleared immediately and so did my mind.

"Where am I?" I demanded immediately and got up from the bed.

I took my defensive stance, I was in a strange place around strange-looking people and I did not see Cole anywhere.

"Where is my friend and what have you done to him?" I asked again looking around.

I was standing beside the bed that I had just woken from, it was a bed of leaves and cotton, it was so soft and it looked so elegant.

"Hi, I'm Ophelia." The voice that woke me up said.

The voice was so soft I soothing I nearly went back to sleep.

This was definitely a good voice for a bedtime story narrator, she would get even the most active of kids to quiet down and sleep immediately.

She bowed her head downwards slowly and I did the same.

I looked at her, she was no taller than four feet, she had a very innocent-looking face with cute features, I noticed transparent wings behind her and golden-colored footwear on her feet.

She had golden curls and bright blue eyes, her skin was pale and soft looking but cute nonetheless, she was wearing a floral white flowing gown and she still held the vase of the sweet-tasting liquid in her hands.

"You're a fairy aren't you." I smiled.

I was finally in the glade of the fairies.

"Ding ding ding." She smiled and her eyes flickered between bright pink and blue.

That must mean she was excited no?

"I found you and your friend passed out by the river of tears." She said.

"The river of what?" I asked and tried to gag.

We drank fairies' tears, how disgusting.

"The river of tears." She laughed. "Legend has it that our first queen tears caused rain to fall and fill that river many years ago when our people were hit by a devastating famine, so that is why it is called a river of tears." She explained.

"Oh thank the goddess, I thought the river was made of actual salty tears." I breathed out in relief and she laughed.

"Oh goodness no, we drink that water and use it to take our bath." She said looking disgusted.

"Where is my friend?" I asked, I was already feeling bothered about him.

I needed to know if he was okay and if he was being treated as well as I was here.

"Oh, he's in the fae glade, males and females don't live in the same space." She said and I smiled at her reaction.

She acted like I had asked for something so immoral.

But I also noticed that she kind of blushed. Did the Fairy princess like my best friend?

"Okay, can I see him?" I asked, I wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"Yeah, in a second, you have to see our queen mother first though, um he will also be at the palace, you will meet him there." She said.

"Okay, let's go," I said.

"Oh no, you can't go see the queen looking like that." She said in horror and pointed to my clothes.

I looked down at my clothes, I had been traveling for days, so obviously they were covered in dirt and mud, some parts of the clothing had even been torn by branches of trees as we walked through the forest.

"Come with me." She said and led me to a great washroom.

The fairies were small creatures, I wondered what they needed all the spaces for, but everywhere I had seen was large, the room I was in was like a great room and it had its own washroom.

Their rooms were also really high, but I guess that's because they can fly.

The washroom was sparkling clean, it had a tub, a shower, and a toilet. It also had a great mirror, a vanity stand, and other fancier things that I didn't know the names of.

She turned her back to me as she turned on the water supply.

"This is the water from the river." She said. "Be careful not to swallow too much of it, it can make you faint." She explained.

Okay, no wonder Cole and I had passed out after drinking the water.

The water was really soothing and I felt like I could stay there forever, it was still clear even after I had washed my muddied body in it.

When I got up from the tub, my skin was glowing and glistening, whatever was in that water, it was one reason why Fairies skin is so perfect.

I wrapped a towel around my body and we left the washroom.

"Merry, Terry, and Berry." She clapped her hands and three odd-looking creatures flew into the room.

"They are sprites, and they are here to dress you up, they will be your personal groomers for as long as you're here." She explained.

"Okay, thanks." I smiled.

The three sprites were talking but I could not understand their language, they were super small, almost as small as regular birds and they were not as beautiful as the fairies though they were also quite pleasant to look at.

They pulled, tugged, pinned, and dressed me up all the while chattering around me in their weird language, twice I suppressed the urge to slap them away when they were close to my ears because their chattering was as disturbing as that of flies buzzing around.

"How do I look." I twirled around in the gown I was given.

The Sprites had packed my hair up and pinned it with different colorful and sweet scenting flowers, they had adorned my neck, wrist, waist, and feet in shiny pearls and precious stones, I wore golden footwear on each foot much like the one Ophelia was wearing and to top it all up, I was wearing a light green floral gown that reached all the way to my feet.

This was probably the longest gown I had ever worn, but it was lovely.

I noticed that everything I wore was soft textured, even the footwear I was wearing was really soft and it pampered my foot greatly, the dress was soft and even the pearls and stones were not heavy on me, they were light.

"Mtchtchtchtch." The Sprites mumbled, but as you can already tell, I did not know what they were saying.

"They're saying you look beautiful, just like a fairy." Ophelia interpreted and I smiled.

"Thank you." I bowed to them as Ophelia had done to me, but instead of responding and being glad, they made a lot of noises that sounded like they were agitated, and then they flew away after bowing to Ophelia.

"They're your servants, you can't bow to them." She said and I nodded.

No wonder they looked terrified and they were agitated.

"When you see them again, please help me explain that I was only trying to be nice," I said.

"They know, they can sense your intent." She said. "We should go, the queen is expecting you."

I was amazed at all the beauty and splendor of the fairies' home as soon as we left the room.

We were beneath a great big tree, the root of the tree was their home, and that was why their home was not easily accessible, you could only find it if they wanted you to.

We kept walking until we got to a golden door that was adorned with crystals, Ophelia flew up to open the door, because the lock was high above the ground and I stood watching her from the ground.

The door pushed open as she flew back down, I gasped in surprise at all the beauty before me, I had never quite seen anything as beautiful before.

The floor was made of pure crystal, the walls were golden, even the pillars, the queen sat on a throne of flowers and she had a flowery crown on her head and a scepter in her hand.

The throne room was a kind of court, many Fairies were present, but male and female and I had to shield my eyes a bit because they were all glowing and their skin was glistening. The room smelled wonderful and when I looked up, I saw the sky above was made of flowers and crystals.

The room turned silent as Ophelia and I began to walk towards the queen, I sighted Cole already standing in front of the queen, he looked so different I barely recognized him, the fae outfit he was putting on looked great on him and they had even put gel on his hair and slicked it all back.

He looked like a different person.

"Mother." Ophelia bowed when we got directly in front of the queen.

"Daughter." The queen responded and stretched her scepter towards her.

Ophelia touched the scepter and walked up the throne platform to take her seat on a smaller throne beside the queen.

She was the queen's daughter.

I bowed after Ophelia and I watched the queen's eyes turn from green to golden.

"My child." She smiled and walked off the throne to stand in front of me.

I was dumbfounded and quiet because I did not know how to respond to her.

She touched my forehead with the scepter in her hand and I fell into a trance, when I came out of the trance I smiled and moved to hug her.

"Godmother." I breathed out.

I had met my Fairy godmother.