Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.
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Marerittene - Chapter 6 - Banquet & Entertainment
Queen Clarion of Neverland
You are cordially invited to attend our banquet dinner as a guest of honor.
5:00 PM local time on the Last Quarter of the Moon at Sørfehjem.
Warmest wishes,
Queen Fridrika of Sørfehjem
Queen Clarion was nervous about leaving Neverland even for one evening, but she convinced herself there should be no harm. Her Ministers were well capable of minding things. Clarion wore one of the small communication crystal pendants in case of emergency, and Prilla would be nearby to whisk her home.
She adjusted her crown one last time, sighed to relieve tension, then said "I'm ready, Prilla."
Prilla smiled, and took her queen's hand. The two of them Apparated to the Sørfehjem Pixie Dust Tree.
Queen Clarion looked around the main lobby in amazement. "What a marvelous talent you have, Prilla." she acclaimed. The place was different from her own beloved Pixie Dust Tree, but Clarion sensed how strongly generations of Norway fairies treasured the center of their magic. "This is a fairy home." it spoke to her.
"Clarion!" cried Queen Caointiorn of the Scotland fairies. Clarion and Prilla glided over to a group of tall fairies, which included Caointiorn, Fridrika, and the Norway Ministers of Seasons. "It's so wonderful to finally meet you in person." She eagerly grasped Clarion's hands in her own, but slid aside to reveal Fridrika.
"Clarion." Fridrika's voice was uneven. "I can't thank you enough." She too, grasped Clarion's hands and gazed into her eyes, then glanced to Caointiorn, "Both of you."
"I'm sure any of us would have done the same for the others." Clarion smiled warmly.
Prilla spotted Beitris hovering nearby. Their eyes bulged as they observed each other's fairy-finest dress-gowns, and they beamed grins at each other. Prilla chose a quiet moment in the royal conversation to catch Clarion's attention, making a pointing-thumb-over-the-shoulder gesture. Clarion nodded to Prilla.
Prilla vanished for a few moments, then re-appeared with Fairy Gary on one arm, and Vidia on the other. Both of them were also dressed in royal gala finest. Vidia looked distinctly uncomfortable.
As all her guests were now present, Fridrika offered a personal tour of the Sørfehjem village and surrounding area, which was accepted. The entourage lifted into the air as Fridrika began with the history of Sørfehjem. Prilla and Beitris also followed, as they were on standby-duty in case their queens needed to return home in a hurry.
Vidia knew she'd be welcome to follow, but decided to stay behind - the company of royalty always made her edgy. She drifted outside and looked around the splendidly decorated square at the foot of the Pixie Dust Tree. The large area was covered with round tables. Vidia guessed that every fairy in southern Norway would be at this banquet. Though everything appeared to be ready, there were still fairies flitting about, making small adjustments. Vidia knew the kitchens would be a madhouse right now. She could already smell several courses cooking.
"Vidia, is that you?" Vidia turned to see Signy and a couple of her friends flutter up. "Well, don't you look elegant!" Signy laughed.
"I can't see you winning any races in that outfit." Vidia smirked back at Signy's gown.
"Ja, you're right." Signy laughed. "Listen, dinner won't start until they get back." She indicated the royal tour. "Let's talk for a while."
Signy and her friends were impressed by the visiting queens, and wanted to know all about Neverland and Dachaigh Sidh, the homeland of the Scotland fairies. As Vidia answered questions, more & more local fairies stopped by to listen. Vidia had never talked so much, or spoken to so many fairies before. She was glad she wasn't a story-teller talent.
After a little while, the royal tour returned, and took their places at the large banquet table nearest the Pixie Dust Tree. That was the cue for the fairies of Sørfehjem to take their seats. Vidia took her place at the main table with the other guests of honor.
Dinner was sumptuous. Each course was varied, tasty, and lovingly presented. The serving-talents never stopped. Clarion and Caointiorn were most impressed, asking for recipes, or perhaps the loan of a cooking-talent for a day.
As plates & dishes were finally cleared away, the last glow of the day's sun had faded, and stars were showing themselves. Fridrika rose to speak to the assembled crowd. She thanked garden & harvest-talents, cooking & baking-talents, and serving-talents for the excellent dinner. She thanked the decorating-talents for their preparations & embellishments. Lastly she thanked the fairies of Neverland and Dachaigh Sidh, without whom they would have nothing to celebrate.
Fridrika then invited Clarion to address the crowd. Clarion kept her speech relatively brief, describing her delight at finding Sørfehjem, her sorrow at their tragedy, and the need for fairies to look after fairies. As the applause ended, Fridrika stood once more.
"Now, our storytellers and light-talents are ready to provide a show we hope you'll all..." Her sentence was interrupted by a laugh from somewhere. Everyone froze.
The laugh came again - a baby's laugh. The fast-flyers and dust-keepers jumped from their seats, ready for action.
"Who's on New Arrival duty?" asked Fridrika. The fast-flyers bounced looks at each other. In all the troubles they'd been through, New Arrivals seemed to have been forgotten, and no one had heard a baby-laugh in over 4 months. "Signy. Go." declared Fridrika. Signy burst into the air and buzzed into the night. Fairies in the crowd began to murmur.
"It appears that our programmed entertainment has been pre-empted." Fridrika spoke to her guests. "Would you like to witness the first New Arrival since before the storm?"
"I'd love that." Clarion answered. The others agreed.
"This way, if you please." Fridrika smiled with a slight bow, and gestured toward the tree's main entrance.
Clarion sat with Caointiorn nearest the Sørfehjem Arrival Stage. Prilla, Beitris, Fairy Gary, and Vidia sat nearby. The place was packed with Norway fairies talking excitedly. Fridrika and her Ministers waited near the back of the stage.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a New Arrival from this seat." Caointiorn recalled wistfully.
"Mmm." Clarion empathized, "I can't recall how many years I've been greeting New Arrivals."
The crowd hushed as Signy fluttered into view with a white waterlily petal under her wind-control. She guided the petal into a slow, tube-like vortex, and it spiraled gently to the stage.
"Nice touch." thought Vidia, "Never thought of doing it that way."
One of the local dust-keepers carefully poured a large cup of their own pixie dust over the petal, and a new fairy unfolded, with the petal enlarged and wrapped around her. As she stood and gazed about at the hundreds of friendly faces, they joined in the singing of a short song of cheerful greeting.
"Welcome small one,"
"Welcome young one,"
"Welcome to our happy home."
"We will help you,"
"We'll be with you,"
"You'll have friends where 'er you roam."
She smiled in return at them, knowing she was safe.
"What a delightful custom." Caointiorn commented quietly.
"Welcome to Sørfehjem." Fridrika glided toward the new fairy. "Would you like to try your wings?" The fairy gazed at Fridrika with awe as the queen slipped behind to energize her wings.
After a short flutter above the stage, the new fairy settled as Fridrika created a circle of mushroom tables. Fairies from the crowd brought a round of talent-tokens to the tables, and the new fairy stepped to the flower-token, which darkened & dropped. Next, she tried the water-drop, which rolled onto her hand and glowed prominently.
"Water-talents," Fridrika addressed the crowd as the mushroom tables vanished, "Come welcome Rippel to your talent guild." The water-talents all flew forward to meet their new member. They had just reached the stage, when another baby-laugh was heard by everyone.
Fridrika and her Ministers looked surprised. Two new fairies in one evening was quite a bonus. Fridrika glanced up at Signy, who gave a small salute on her way out of the Pixie Dust Tree.
Signy was back shortly with an oak leaf. A sparrow-man rose from the pixie dust, and on the second round of talent-tokens, he correctly chose from 3 rocks the one which had a gemstone buried in it. As Fridrika announced his name to the mining-talents, another baby-laugh was heard.
This time, Signy returned with a foxglove blossom. Everything went similarly as before, but the new fairy was rejected by the first & second round of talent-tokens. When the third round of tokens failed her, she looked discouraged.
"Ach, I know what that feels like." Beitris murmured to Prilla, beside her.
"Me too." Prilla sighed, then thought of something. "You don't suppose..." She and Beitris looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
Fridrika and her Ministers looked confused. They had never encountered this before. Fridrika looked to the 2 visiting queens. Clarion rose from her seat to address Fridrika.
"If I might suggest," Clarion spoke, "Put her up in one of your apartments. I can give you some ideas on rare talents later. In the meantime, she must have a name..."
"Ja, of course." Fridrika glided forward and placed her hand on the new fairy's head. "Reisa. Her name is Reisa." The collected fairies all cheered & applauded. In the following minutes, the crowd began stirring from their seats, but stopped as a forth baby-laugh sounded through the night.
Fridrika left the newest fairy in the care of her Ministers while she attended the fire-weed blossom that Signy had guided in. The fairy who rose from the pixie dust shower had relatively short hair, which looked unnaturally fluffy, but most noticeable was her blue glow. Some fairies in the crowd were slow to join in their welcome song, which the senior fairies had started on cue.
Fridrika continued on with energizing the new fairy's wings, but when she reached for the fairy's hand, a "snap" noise was heard as the fairy flashed luminous white, and Fridrika recoiled her hand. Fridrika reached out once more, and took the fairy's hand uneventfully, lifting her for the new fairy's first flight.
Just as before, the new fairy was rejected by 3 rounds of talent-tokens. The water drop actually jumped from the table and rolled off the stage. Fridrika announced her name as "Tora".
When the crowd's applause died away, they stayed in their seats, expecting another baby-laugh, but as the minutes slid past, it became clear that this was the last New Arrival of the evening. The crowd gradually fluttered their way out.
The visiting fairies floated onto the Arrival Stage. Prilla & Beitris went straight to Reisa, and started chatting. The others clustered around Tora.
"What do you think, Clarion?" asked Fridrika.
"I'm not sure." Clarion studied Tora, who was looking a bit shy from the attention. "She clearly has a talent, but what is it?"
"We may need to search our records." Caointiorn suggested. The other 2 queens nodded.
"Well, it's been a wonderful evening, Fridrika." Clarion smiled.
"Such a charming home and fairies." Caointiorn added.
Fridrika hugged Clarion & Caointiorn. "I thank you both, once more. You must come visit again."
"You must visit us!" Caointiorn laughed. Beitris and Prilla took the hand of their queens, and as Reisa watched, the queens & fairies vanished.
"Spectacular meal, Queen Fridrika." Fairy Gary commented.
"You're all welcome back, any time." Fridrika smiled, as Prilla re-appeared. Prilla linked arms with Fairy Gary & Vidia, winked at Reisa, and vanished.
"I think it's time to find you fairies a place to sleep." Fridrika smiled at her new charges.
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Author's Post Note: Eww. I'm terrible at making up song lyrics. Probably plagiarized them from someplace (don't know where).
Next: Reisa & Tora adventures.