everyone – well, if you look in the reviews and see someone called "Halia", that would be Molly. :D:D I introduced her to this site, and she apparently thought it would be funny to review this story. You can see how humble she is if you read the review…and I kind of know that this chapter is bad…I'm sorry, I'm not really good at the demise of villains, am I? icepixie – *grins* yeah, I liked the old fairies too. They were tons of fun to make. I didn't get the idea for the entrance from harry potter, which I know sounds fake, but I really didn't. Then I read the chapter I wrote, and I realized that it was a lot like Harry Potter. Ooops. Oh well, it's just fanfiction! A bit like LotR too- looooove that movie! I'm going to the midnight showing for RotK! Yeah, I've already finished writing this for Molly- there's only nine chapters, plus an epilogue. I'm sorry! But I do think I'm going to write another Ella Enchanted ficcie. I just have to figure out what to write it on. But I will write more! daydream – heehee, thanks. I agree, it's a lot like Platform 9 and three-quarters. Not intentionally, but it definitely is. Trinian, I think, is a name in the Narnia books- Molly came up with that name. She said it was one of the Narnian princes…I'm not sure, something like that. I like it too, but not as much as Aden! Have fun with Huck Finn! I loved that story(abridged, though, of course!) charleigh – chocolate? Huh? Although, I do loooove chocolate. My favorite candy in the world! But I've already finished writing this story, so there's probably not going to be chocolate. Sorry! But me loooorve chocolate! Ruby – yeah, the old fairies were fun to write about. I liked the part about Lucinda petitioning about small magic to make herself beautiful :D TallemeraRane - *looks sheepish* well, there's no action until the ninth chapter between Aden and Ria, although there's bits of hints on how Aden feels about her(you know, going right after her into the Fairy Office). Sorry! But there is a little(not a lot…I just really suck at the snogging thing) action in the ninth chapter.

Dedicated, as always, to Molly, the extremely frank and un-humble history-class friend.

"Marmi, don't forget their horses," said one of the old ladies as their old guide came up with refreshments to find the whole room in an uproar.

"Where are we going?" Marmi asked, clearly confused. 

"To Kyrria!" one fairy said, as another added, "And to Mandy's cooking!"

"You'd think they hadn't eaten for a decade," Halia muttered.

"Maybe they haven't," Kit replied with a grin.

          After all the confusion was sorted out, Marmi went down to bring the horses to Kyrria, while Aden, Ria, Halia, and Kit waited for the fairies. After finally sorting out every cane to their proper owner, the half-asleep man reached under the table to get a handful of skyblue, glittery powder.

"Fairy dust?" chortled Aden. "So it is true."

"Come here," commanded one of the ladies, taking a pinch of the dust. They came closer to her, and she threw the powder in their faces. Blinking furiously, Ria saw that they other fairies threw powder into their own faces, until the whole table had light blue faces. It looked ridiculous to her, until the room started spinning, and one of the men yelled, "The Kyrrian castle!"

          Ria lost track of where the table and the room went- the rest of them went spinning into a gradual darkness. After a minute or so, sparks of color pierced the darkness, and the sparks melted into bigger spots. The spots took on a sort of eerie picture as the spinning gradually stopped. Ria recognized the odd painting they made- Ober's forbidding rooms. Sunlight poured in from the windows, but the atmosphere in this room was strange enough that the light was absorbed, not reflected. Suddenly the painting- or so it seemed- of the room turned real. Ria blinked furiously, not quite seeing the differences at first.

"No decorating sense," she heard a fairy say. "His rooms always look the same. Don't even need a visualization anymore."

"Bloody hell," Aden muttered next to her. "Where are we?"

She grinned at him. "Welcome to Kyrria. You're in my domain now."

"Just peachy," he grumbled.

"Justice, I say," Kit commented. [a/n: sorry for interrupting the story, but that is SO something I would say!]

          The fairies stood in a circle, conferring. After a slight discussion, they turned to the four.

"We request that you leave these chambers while we deal with Ober- once he gets here," the half-asleep man said politely.

Aden yelped in dismay, and Kit trod on his foot, glaring as if to say shut up.

"Why?" Ria asked politely, as dismayed as Aden, though not showing it.

"Fairies are very secretive in their duels- we wish you not to see," he replied.

          The other three literally dragged Aden out of the room. Once out, he grumbled about coming all the way just to see those 'old crockheads fight.'

"Shut up," Halia finally said savagely. Aden blinked at her, surprised, then did shut up, to the relief of the girls.

"Father!" Ria cried, suddenly remembering. And she was off running, the other three straining to catch up. As soon as she entered the room, she saw that her father was still sleeping. Softly treading to his bedside, she looked at his face, more pale and drawn than ever. He seemed to have gotten even worse. His breathing was shallow and ragged. She checked his pulse, her face creasing into a frown. Had she gotten the fairies here in time?

          Looking around, she realized that Aden, Kit, and Halia had stayed outside in respect to her father. She was all alone.

"Father," she said. "I'm back."

She knew he couldn't hear her, so why was she even talking? Not to soothe him, she realized, but to calm herself.

"The fairies are here," she continued. "They'll help set things straight, and then Ober will be gone. I promise, as soon as he's dead, we'll celebrate."

"I'm truly sorry I can't allow that happen," a familiar drawl came from the shadows. Ria tensed and whirled around. Ober emerged from the corner, where Ria suspected he had been watching. "It surprises me," he continued "that the dead return. Or you weren't?"

"What do you want?" Ria asked. Where was the Fairy Order? She wondered desperately, realizing that there was no time to string her bow and fit an arrow to it. Ober could kill her before she could get the bow from her back.

"The truth," Ober said in his measured voice. "Which is hard to obtain."

A cackle sounded from behind Ria. Ober instantly raised his hand and a glowing shield surrounded him. Ria turned to see the Fairy Order, leaning on their sticks.

"You're ours, now, Ober," cackled one lady.

"We told you not to go around messing in kingdoms," sighed another.

"Next time, listen to us!" The fairies together raised a giant globe of light and shattered Ober's wall.

"No," Ober said through gritted teeth. A glow surrounded him again to shape in the air as a sword, aimed straight for the Order. They blocked it easily.

          Meanwhile, Ria slipped into a corner, and brought down her bow. Clenching her fingers to keep them from trembling, she strung her bow, and reached for an arrow. Inching along the wall, she stopped when Ober's back was to hers. Busy with the Fairy Order in front of him, Ober hadn't bothered to put a magical guard on his back. Stretching the bowstring, Ria shot. The arrow went deep into his back. He cried out, and his magic faltered. Ria shot again, as the Fairy Order's magic enveloped him. Silence fell, and when the cloud of glittery magic faded into the air, Ober was gone, dying as he had lived, a backstabber.

"Nice and neat," a fairy remarked.

"But what's this?" another one asked curiously, picking up something near where Ober had fell.

          Ria went and looked at it. It was the ring she had seen. She took it from the fairy, who just shrugged.

"To the kitchen!" one crowed, and with surprising quickness, they dissappeared.

"Ria!" three muffled voices cried. Perplexed, Ria opened the door.
"It was locked!" Halia cried. "We couldn't get to you!"

"I bet that those fairies locked it," Kit grumbled. We heard what that man- Ober- said. Is he dead?"

Ria shuddered. "I hope so."

"You okay?" Aden asked, real concern in his eyes.[a/n: yet another hint!] Ria nodded.

"I need to find Mother," Ria said. "She needs to know what happened to Father." She held the ring tighter.

          They found Ella and Mandy in the kitchen, along with the Fairy Order greedily eating a cake Mandy had probably intended for dinner. Mandy looked furious.

"I'm sorry, Mandy," Ria yelled over the hubbub. "I promised them your food if they came."
"Ria!" Ella and Mandy cried, and in a second, Ria was crushed in a hug between the two of them.

          Ria felt some wetness on her cheeks, and with some surprise, realized the tears were hers. After being released from the hug, Ria smiled at her mother, who had tears in her eyes. She wiped furiously at them, smiling.

"You made it home!" Ella said. "Who's this? Why, Halia! A bit of a way from home?"
 "I was hoping you'd tell Mere why I can't wash the dishes tonight," Halia said. Ella laughed.

"Of course," she said benevolently. "And who are these two?"

"This is Aden," Ria said, pointing. "He rescued me from some thieves, then tagged me to Ayortha."

"I hope it doesn't come as too much of a shock that Ria's a princess," Ella grinned.

"It was when I heard," Aden drawled. "Just a minor detail she forgot about."

Ella laughed. "And this is Kit," Ria said. "She's Ayorthaian too, she helped find the Fairy Order."

"Pleased to meet you," Ella curtsied. "Please think of Frell as your home for now."
"Many thanks," Kit curtsied back, an odd thing in breeches.

"What about Ayortha?" Halia asked indignantly.

Kit laughed. "From one home, to none, to two!" she explained.

          Ria gave the ring to Ella, and told her the story of the dead Ober. The relief was sharp on Ella's face, then replaced by apprehension as she looked at the ring.

"This is Char's hair?" she asked, squinting at it.

"It seems so," Ria explained, as the other three and Mandy listened attentively.

"How do we get rid of the sickness?" Ella asked, sighing heavily. "Ober might be gone, but this was his joke on us all. The sickness remains. It's tied to this ring."
"We can't destroy the ring," Ria reasoned. "It would destroy Father then."

"I could try magic on it," Mandy said doubtfully. "But how would that work?"
 "Begging your pardon," Aden said to Mandy, "But I really don't think it's magic. From what I hear of Ober, he's a fox."
"Fox?" Halia laughed.

"Oh- well, it's a gypsy term," Aden explained. "He does the thing that's least expected of him. And magic- dark magic- is what you expect."
"Then what don't we expect from him?" Halia asked. "I don't know him."
"Love," Ria replied promptly. "Opposite of hate."

"There you go," Aden said satisfactorily. "Just use love to get rid of it."
"It's not that easy," muttered Ella.

"Begging pardon, Your Majesty," Aden said, grinning, "But you sound exactly like your daughter."

Ria and Ella grinned. "Call me Ella," Ella said to Aden. "No 'Your Majesty.'"

"Yes, Your- Ella," Aden said, slipping up.

"So, how am I supposed to use love?" Ella asked. "I have plenty of it, just no directions."

They all stood in Char's room, clumped around the bed. Ella held the ring in her palm.

"Use your love for Father to make it disappear," Ria suggested. Mandy breathed sharply, thinking of something.
"Illusions, Lady," she said. "That's what Ober used. Just think of the ring as nonexistent. It was never there. And it will disappear."

          Ella closed her eyes, and seemed to think deeply. Ria leaned forward to help her out with her thoughts, but Mandy laid a restraining hand on her.

"This is her fight," she whispered. Ria nodded reluctantly.

          At first, nothing appeared to be happening. Then, like a wavering mirage, the ring blurred. Ria blinked, thinking there was something in her eye. The ring returned to normal. Then it blurred again. Ria narrowed her eyes. Ella's hand was clear, but the ring was taking on a grayish tinge.

          She glanced at her father. Was she imagining it, or was his face gaining a little color? She glanced back at the ring. Ella's eyes were clenched shut now, and her fingers trembled. The ring wavered again, then turned somewhat transparent…and vanished.

          There was no cheering in the room, just silence. Ella, still trembling, opened her eyes to look at Char. He stirred, and she sank down to his bedside. Color returned to his face immediately, rushing back and driving out the pale and gray. The haggard pose strengthened out, and the rise and fall of his chest grew stronger.

"He's returning," Halia whispered. Ria nodded, too afraid to utter a word. Ella seemed not to pay any attention, only holding Char's hand. To them, it seemed as if her whole concentration, mind and spirit, were on Char.

          He stirred again, stretched, and his eyes opened blearily. Looking around, he saw the odd group of people, then Ella holding his hand. He smiled sleepily.

"Ella," he said. "Time to wake up?"

          Tears tracked down Ella's cheeks as she nodded, her smile wobbly from disuse.

-Alqualyne