Repelled

King Oberon and Queen Titania, majestically dressed in gold and silver, strode past the frog orchestra to the front of the ballroom. The noise and chatter in the room fell to a hush. The king cleared his throat. "Fairies and other friends," he announced, "we are delighted to see that all of you came to join in our special celebration. Welcome to the Midsummer Ball!"

Everyone cheered. Oberon nodded to Melodie the Music Fairy, who was conducting the orchestra. She raised her wand as if it were a baton, and the frogs began to play a lively waltz.

Standing off to the side, Ruby the Red Fairy watched the dancing with satisfaction. "A job well done on the invitations, I must say," she commented to her younger sister Fern.

The Green Fairy nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we prewrote them last year. It saves a lot of time, even with the help of magic. We had so many to send!"

"I agree with you there!" Ruby fiddled with her red satin dress inattentively. "Thanks to that, we've got a good crowd this year." Then she groaned as something got her attention. "Oh, dear! Look at Amber!"

On the other side of the ballroom, the fairies' sister was certainly not dancing. Aided by her wings, the Orange Fairy was executing a series of cartwheels and backflips in midair. Amber's peach-colored unitard flashed, and her copper-brown ponytail whipped around with every turn.

"It's all right," Fern assured Ruby. "Let it be. You know that Amber's not much of a dancer."

"Not like Heather," said a voice. Inky the Indigo Fairy sauntered up to them, munching on a tea sandwich. "I danced with her, but my, she wore me out! Handed her off to Sunny so I could get a break."

Ruby laughed. "That's Heather for you! Look, there she is." Ruby pointed to a fairy with wavy blonde hair and a violet dress, both of which were swishing in all directions as the Violet Fairy twirled. Sunny, the littlest sister, was trying hard to keep up with Heather's pace, but without much success.

"Poor Sunny!" said Fern sympathetically. "Inky, are you trying to give her a hard time?"

"Moi?" Inky replied, casually straightening the lapels on her jean jacket. "You wound me, sister!"

Smiling, Ruby rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Inky."

Meanwhile, the waltz ended, and the dancers applauded the musicians. Heather let go of the Yellow Fairy's hand and curtsied. "Good dancing, Sunny!" she complimented.

Breathless, Sunny ran a hand through her short, saffron hair. Her yellow T-shirt was damp with sweat. "Whew! I think I'll . . . . sit the next one out, if you don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Heather paused as the orchestra began another tune. "This one sounds slower."

Sunny backed up. "No thanks! I, uh, need to get a glass of water!" And she dashed away.

"I'll dance with you, Heather," a voice said, barely audible over the noise in the ballroom. Heather turned to see Sky the Blue Fairy standing behind her. Sky was shy yet very pretty, with her blue suede dress and boots enhancing her pale complexion. A silver tiara headband gleamed among her golden curls.

Heather beamed. "Why, thank you, Sky," she said, taking her outstretched hand.

But before they could join in the dancing, Sky felt a chill go up her spine. She shuddered, rubbing her bare arms. "Oh! Is it just me, or is there a draft in here?"

Her older sister frowned. "No, you're right. But I don't get it. It's Midsummer, why would . . . ?" She trailed off. Heather's mind flashed back a week, to the day she and her sisters had sent out the invitations. Despite her sisters' confidence, Heather hadn't been able to shake the feeling that they had overlooked someone important.

And then it hit her. Dragging Sky along, Heather hurried over to Ruby, who had also noticed the temperature drop. "Ruby, when we sent out invitations, did we remember to invite—"

A blast of icy wind cut her off. By now, everyone was aware of the chill, for the ballroom was now filled with a strange mist. The orchestra stopped playing as their instruments grew cold. Then a pallid, spindly man dressed in white strode through the double doors, looking very angry. Queen Titania hurried toward him. "Jack Frost, what a nice surprise," she greeted, looking flustered. "Have you come to join us?"

The winter warlock scowled. "Where are the Rainbow Fairies?" he demanded.

Ruby stepped forward, her six sisters huddled behind her uncertainly. "Right here," she said.

Jack Frost swiveled to face them. "You are in charge of the invitations, correct?"

"That's correct," Ruby answered, her voice trembling slightly.

"And you send them to everyone residing in and around Fairyland?"

"Yes . . . . of course."

"THEN WHY WASN'T I INVITED?!"

Ruby's jaw dropped. Heather's face screwed up in anguish. Their sisters gasped, terrified.

"Well?" Jack Frost pressed, his eyes glaring daggers.

"I-I d-don't understand, we sure—er, we m-made sure th-that . . . ." Ruby stammered, horrified.

"Jack Frost, please," Titania implored, coming to the girl's rescue. "It was only an honest mistake, and I'm sure that they won't make it again. You're welcome to stay and—"

He whirled on her. "That's what you said a century ago, when their predecessors 'forgot!' Well, I won't tolerate it! I WON'T!" Jack Frost turned to the Rainbow Fairies, who stepped back in fright. "A crime such as this must not go unpunished. You will face the consequences!" And he raised his wand:

"Cold winds blow and thick ice forms,

I conjure up this fairy storm.

To seven corners of the human world

The Rainbow Fairies shall be hurled!

I curse every part of Fairyland

With a frosty wave of my icy hand.

For now and always, from this day,

Fairyland shall be cold and grey!"

While Jack Frost spoke, the grey mist that filled the room began to churn, gathering around the Rainbow Fairies. A strong, icy breeze picked up, and the mist became a foggy tornado. The girls cried out in alarm as they were suddenly lifted up off their feet. Then the windows behind them flung open and, to everyone's horror, the tornado launched itself into the stormy sky.

Shrieks filled the air as the Rainbow Fairies tumbled helplessly through the clouds. But Ruby, who was the last one out, caught sight of Queen Titania leaning out of the window, her wand raised up high. There was a crack of thunder, and Ruby saw a familiar black pot fly out from behind a storm cloud. She felt herself being sucked towards it; next thing she knew, Ruby and her sisters had been swallowed by the pot.

"We're in the pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow!" Amber shouted.

"Queen Titania must have been trying to protect us!" Ruby answered from the bottom of the pot.

Inky, who was closest to the pot's mouth, called out, "I think it's taking us to Rainspell Island!"

Rainspell is an island off the coast of Ireland, and it serves as the link between Fairyland and the human world. The Rainbow Fairies were very familiar with the island, as it was also their birthplace.

But as Inky pointed this out the pot, buffeted by the wind, turned bottom up, and Inky began to slide out. "Oh no, I'm falling—HELP!" she cried, her blue-black hair blowing every which way.

"Inky!" Heather lunged after her sister, but at that moment the wind and rain rushed into the pot, and both Inky and Heather, along with Sky and Fern, spilled out.

"Fern!" "Sky!" Amber and Sunny cried, and desperately dove after their twin sisters.

"NO!" Ruby shrieked as the other fairies were flung in all directions. But the pot sailed on.


Inky spiraled through the heavy rain to the south side of the island, where cottages dotted the coast. Ever the tough sister, she did her best not to scream, but almost lost it when the wind sent her straight for the chimney of one of the cottages. Luckily, she landed not on the chimney, but inside it. Falling into a pile of ashes, Inky bounced off the hearth and onto the floor of the room, scattering soot as she went. Then the back of her head hit the floor, and the world went dark.


Amber and Sky were both carried to the beach, just west of the cottages. But from there, the wind sent them to opposite ends of the shore. Before she even knew what was happening, Amber shot straight into an open oyster shell, which clamped shut on her. Sky wasn't so fortunate. A strong gust tossed her high in the air, then down again to the rocky cliffs at the north end of the beach. Oh no, she thought, if I hit the cliffs I'm done for! Sky managed to get out her wand and hurriedly compose a spell:

"Keep me from the gales that send me tumbling to my fate;

Protect me in a magic bubble naught shall penetrate!"

A bubble formed at the tip of her wand and grew until, with a flash of light, it enveloped Sky completely. The bubble bounced off the cliff wall and plummeted into a nearby tide pool.


Far away at the north end of the island, Heather saw the flash, but only briefly before the wind spun her around again. Now she saw on the ground below her what looked like a small carnival, with game booths, vendors, and even a small carousel. Obviously, nobody was outside due to the weather. The Violet Fairy turned her attention to the approaching carousel, and saw that there were seven rainbow-colored horses on it. She tumbled underneath the rainbow-striped carousel tent, past the horses—and directly towards the central pole. Squeezing her eyes shut, she thought, This is going to hurt . . . .


It didn't. Fern's landing was way more painful.

On the island's northwest corner was an old, ivy-covered stone tower. The wind dropped Fern almost directly above the tower, and she skidded down the side of the wall, snagging several vines along the way. Eventually she came to rest, suspended from the side of the tower in a tangled ball of ivy. But, as always, she kept a cool head. After catching her breath, Fern reached up to her neck to unwrap one of the vines, and was met with a sharp sting on her back. Gasping in pain, she felt below her wings and discovered a long, bloody gash matted with leaves and tattered strips of her shirt. Reaching behind her with her wand, Fern muttered a healing spell. Only a few faint sparkles came out, but slowly the gash faded, and the fabric sewed itself back together. Fern sighed, relieved. "Now for the ivy . . . ." she muttered, and set to work untangling herself.


Sunny somersaulted to the eastern end of the island, to a house just north of town. She only glimpsed a blur of green from a garden before—thud! Dazed, Sunny rubbed her head, unaware of the rain pattering around her, or of the buzzing of the honey bees inside the box, on top of which she was sprawled.

"May I help you?" said a kind voice.

The Yellow Fairy sat up and turned to gaze at the worker bee that flew up beside her.

"You look a little . . . . disoriented, if I may say so." The bee nodded toward the hive entrance. "Why don't you come inside for a bit? To warm up, dry off—maybe tell your story?"

Sunny bit her lip, and nodded gratefully.


Finally, in a small forest clearing in the center of the island, the pot hit the ground, and Ruby fell face first into the dirt. Shakily standing up, she brushed the soil off of her face and looked around, but found she couldn't see anything, for it was suddenly pitch black. Then Ruby realized that the pot had landed upside-down, trapping her inside. Ruby brought out her wand and waved it around a couple times. Nothing happened. She tried again, but no sparkles came out. Her magic wouldn't work.

I wonder if my sisters are having this problem, she thought nervously. Then her eyes widened. My sisters . . . . oh, for the love of all things fey, where are my sisters? What have I done?

Ruby sank to her knees and buried her face in her hands. "It's all my fault," she whispered into the dark, her voice choked. "It's all . . . . my . . . . fault . . . !" And with that, she broke down and cried.