Vidia, Interrupted Ch. 7
~O~
Queen Clarion now seemed to understand why Fairy Eddie was so resistant to obeying her edict that Vidia be treated with the same respect as any other fairy in Pixie Hollow. She had insulted his abilities as a talent guild overseer and undermined his authority, which for Vidia was unsurprising. After another conversation with Fairy Eddie, much of what Vidia had said was revealed to be true. Although there were a few minor things she had left out just as Fairy Eddie had engaged in "selective memory" in their previous conversation. No matter, the issue was in clear focus now.
When asked what had become of Mina, Fairy Eddie stated that she been relegated to managing the youngest butterflies. Helping the other animal talents gather them for wing painting. She wasn't entirely happy with the assignment, but did her job well enough.
"Have you attempted to train her to use her abilities to the fullest?" Clarion asked him.
"This is the most anyone will ever get out of her," he replied. "She's not very talented and spends far too much time overthinking her work."
"Have you ever tried to help her learn to improve her flying?"
"Why? She's never going to get any better."
"Vidia apparently had some success with Mina," she countered.
"That little monster insulted Mina and..."
"She is not a monster, Fairy Eddie," Queen Clarion stated loudly for his benefit. "Vidia was helping her to the best of her own ability."
"Then why did Mina come home crying after one of their training sessions?" Fairy Eddie asked. "I'll tell you why, because she told Mina that she would never amount to anything. That's incomprehensible and I can't understand why you don't just throw Vidia out of Never Land for good. She deserves it."
The queen became inwardly angry with Fairy Eddie. An overseers responsibility to his or her charges included the training of all guild members no matter how difficult that training may be. Fairy Eddie, for whatever reason, concluded that Mina was too under-talented to be worth training. This was unacceptable.
"You say that Vidia led Mina to believe she would never amount to anything."
"I just did."
"And you believe Vidia was in the wrong for saying it."
"Absolutely. Poor Mina cried like a frightened human child for days, convinced she was worthless."
"Fairy Eddie, Vidia tried to help Mina in her own misguided way," Queen Clarion said in the fast flyer's defense. "What she said was in the heat of anger and frustration and I doubt that she believes any of it. You on the other hand profess to not believe it, yet you practice it exactly as Vidia stated. You are convinced that Mina will never amount to anything worthwhile."
"WHAT?! That is insane! Vidia is the one that insulted Mina, not me! I let her work so that...
"So that what, Fairy Eddie?"
"So that she won't lose heart," he answered carefully.
"But you do not train her," the queen restated.
"She can't be trained!" he answered.
"Certain of this are you?"
"YES!"
"Even with Vidia's evidence to the contrary?"
"Vidia is a liar and a horrid little monster who deserves nothing from us but our contempt and disregard!"
"Watch yourself, Fairy Eddie," the queen said with her trademark gentle forcefulness.
"I will not watch myself," he roared. "How can you defend that ogre? She hurts everyone around her just by being alive!"
"You are dangerously close..."
"Close to what?" he exploded, slamming his fist on her desk. "Close to what, Clarion? Tell me now or so help me..."
"You are dangerously close to insubordination, disobeying the queen's edict and you are likely guilty of dereliction of duty," she told him outright.
"Dereliction of duty? Don't you dare think you can tell me what my duty is, I know what it is and putting up with that beastly creature with wings is not part of it."
"Putting up with Vidia, maintaining your composure, complete training of ALL fairies under your authority and setting a proper example for your guild are part of your responsibility, Fairy Eddie. And I can tell you what your duty is because I am the Queen of Pixie Hollow vested with full authority to do so, is that understood?"
Fairy Eddie seethed with anger. He hated Vidia so much that he would liked to be king for a day just to run her out of Pixie Hollow forever. But even through his rage he realized that if he pushed Queen Clarion any further he would end up the one banished. So he held this tongue lest he hang himself with it.
"Yes, your highness," he answered.
"Excellent," she replied. "Now then, I will offer you what I offered Vidia: a second chance. If you can keep your dislike of Vidia in check and treat her with the respect she deserves this conversation will have never happened. However, failure to comply will result in your immediate arrest for all the charges mentioned."
"Yes, your highness, you are very generous."
"Very good. Now then, why was Mina not properly trained?"
"Because I believed that she could not be trained due to her weak talent."
"And you concluded she could not be trained because...?"
"Because...," it stuck in his craw to have to admit it because he did not want to accept what he was about to say. "Because I..., I did not believe she would amount to anything. That she was a useless fairy not worthy of my time or industry."
"Very good. Now then, if you ever hope to regain your former position you will pay heed to this new attitude and adopt it most readily."
"Yes, your highness."
"Oh, and Fairy Eddie one more thing. It is 'Queen Clarion' not 'Clarion' to you. You are never to use my name without my proper title ever again. Do we have an understanding?"
"Yes, my queen."
"Good, you are dismissed."
~O~
Later, Clarion spoke to his replacement and told the sparrow man to take Mina under his wing as a special case and train her to the fullest of her potential, no matter how low that ceiling might be. Unfortunately, he was resistant to the idea for the same reasons that Fairy Eddie gave. He believed that Mina was under-talented, under-skilled and therefore untrainable.
"Does everyone in your guild think this way?" she asked him.
"I think so," he replied. "But we don't talk about it to spare her feelings. Fairy Eddie wanted us to be as supportive as possible."
This was a pleasant, but meaningless concession on Eddie's part. It was as she had suspected. Fairy Eddie's low regard for Mina had spread throughout the guild which left Clarion with no other alternative save one. She informed the supervisor of the fast flying guild to select an appropriate trainer to instruct Mina in proper flight techniques so she could reach her greatest potential. A fairy's talent was his or her joy and to be denied it meant a terribly meaningless life. No fairy should be subjected to that kind of depressing existence.
With this sorted out the queen moved on to another of Vidia's complaints: her treatment at the hands of the ministers.
~O~
Ever since the aborted conversation with Tink's girlfriends Terence thought hard about how he put "the cart before the mouse" as Iridessa had phrased it. He took it to mean he gave Tinker Bell those lost things too early.
"Okay, so I gave her the lost things before something else important, but what?" he mumbled as he handed out dust to the long line of waiting fairies at the Pixie Dust Tree. Today was his day to do so before making delivery runs to those who couldn't wait in line.
"Ahem," a large, muscular sparrow man said, clearing his throat loudly to gain Terence's attention.
"Oh, you got your portion," Terence said absent-mindedly.
"No, you dumped it over there," the hulking sparrow man said pointing to an empty space where the pixie dust pooled before being drawn to the depot by the tree's root system.
"Oh, sorry." Terence then properly scooped and handed an exact ration of dust to the waiting sparrow man. He did his best to keep his mind on the work before him, but his thoughts kept trying to work out the problem. Then Rosetta arrived for her dusting and she was able to inform him of his mistake.
"It's simple, silly," she prefaced. "You gave her lost things when she couldn't do anythin' with 'em. She's stuck chasin' thistles all over Pixie Hollow and has no time for buildin' or creatin' stuff. What you did for her was sweet, Terence, but from her perspective it was as mean and callow as anythin' Vidia's done to her."
"You really think so, Rosetta?"
"Take it from someone who's been around the Pixie Dust Tree once or twice..."
"Only twice?" Fawn said bearing a smirk.
"Hey, watch it!" Rosetta barked. "I proper fairy doesn't reveal her age, it's improper and indescreet."
"What were you saying, Rosetta?" Terence asked as he handed out another proper ration of dust to the next fairy in line.
"What I was sayin' before I was so rudely interrupted is that timin' is everythin', and no offense, Terence, but yours stunk."
"Not too indescreet," Fawn chirped.
"Wow, and just when a few really nice lost things have begun to wash up in the cove," Terence lamented.
"Oh, it's okay. You can still collect 'em for her," Rosetta suggested.
"Yeah, just hang on to them until she's ready to start work again. It'll be the best gift she's ever received."
"Exactly," Rosetta concurred.
Terence issued another ration of dust to the next fairy in line. "Hey, now that sounds like a great idea. Thanks!"
"No problem, Terence," Fawn said.
"And the next time you have girl problems, come to use first before you do somethin' you'll regret later," Rosetta whispered with a knowing wink.
"Oh, how are Silvermist and Iridessa?" he asked them.
"They're great," Fawn said beaming. "Iridessa apologized and explained everything. Our little Gang of Four is back together again."
"That's great. But what can I do to help Tink? I haven't seen her all day." Terence asked as he handed out more dust.
"She's been feelin' awfully low lately," Rosetta told him. "We need to do somethin' fast before she completely loses it."
"Yeah, but what? Fawn asked.
Terence handed out more dust to those waiting in line as he thought. "She thinks none us wants to be her friends anymore. We need to find someway to show her how much we still love her..., as friends, I mean."
"Sure you do," Fawn said with a sly laugh.
"Maybe we could have a party for her," Rosetta suggested.
"But where could we hold it?" Fawn asked.
"Why not where she feels most comfortable," Silvermist suggested. Sil had been waiting in line and overheard part of the conversation. She stepped out of line to join her friends and made the suggestion. Iridessa flittered in by her side. Their friendship definitely on good terms again. "Let's hold it in Tinker's Nook. It's been repaired and the tinkers look like they're on edge anyway. A good party could do everyone some good."
"Don't we need to get Fairy Mary's permission first?" Iridessa asked, ever the worry wart.
"I'll take care of that," Rosetta said boldly. "How could anyone resist a request from the most proper and beautiful fairy in all of Pixie Hollow. Second only to the queen, of course."
"You're not asking her out on a date, Rosetta," Fawn quipped. Rosetta shot her a few dirty looks at the very suggestion.
"Why don't I ask her?" Terence suggested.
"That's a good idea," Fawn said. "Your earnest and boyish charms would be perfect to get her to say yes."
Terence scratched his head in confusion before handing out more dust. "Uh, what's going on between you two?" he asked of Fawn and Rosetta.
"Oh don't get them started again," Iridessa said. "They'll just end up fighting some more."
Silvermist giggled. "This happens all the time. Fawn complains that Rosetta is too uptight about being prim and proper, while Rosetta complains that Fawn is tomboyish and uncouth."
"Well, can you put it aside for Tink's sake?" he asked of them.
Fawn and Rosetta sighed, having realized just how petty their little war of words was in the shadow of Tinker Bell's predicament.
"Oh, sure we can," Rosetta cooed.
"Yeah, for Tink," Fawn said, committing herself to the cause.
While Terence kept handing out the dust to the fairies in line, he and the girls started planning Tink's "Friendship Party." They worked out possible times, who to invite (all the tinkers, of course, and some of Tink's friends from the different guilds) and most importantly what gifts to bring and not bring.
"That means no lost things," Rosetta reminded everyone.
"Wow, that's going to make it hard," Iridessa stated. "What else does she like?"
"You mean besides, Terence?" Fawn said with giggle that spread to the other girls quickly.
"What about something she can wear?" Iridessa asked.
"Nope, she has to work with those thistles all day, remember?" Rosetta said.
"What about decorations for her home?" Silvermist suggested.
"What home?" Terence reminded them. The girls slumped like the wind had been taken out of their sails.
"Why do we necessarily have to bring presents?" Fawn asked. "The party could be her present. Our being there would be her present. If we can't give her anything, then let's give her the one thing she needs the most: us."
"That's a great idea!" Silvermist said enthusiastically. "What kind of wrapping paper should I use?"
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