A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates, but I've kidnapped by pirates and
forced to do a Pirates of the Caribbean fic, so you see my predicament. But
thankfully they've given me a bit of shore leave to reassure my family and
friends that I'm alright, be happy that instead I chose to update False
Face for my lovely AF fans. To respond to your reviews:
EvilSpirit: I see you partake in the watching of Scrubs as well, how delightful. Thanks for the Butler pairing suggestion, but don't hold your breath. Keep reading, though!
Po-chan: Glad you're for the team, I wasn't sure how that'd pan out. As far as Trouble goes... It's kind of been a while since I read the books, and I'm not confident I'd be able to accurately portray him. So you also should continue breathing normally on that account.
The Reviewer14: Can I count to ten? That's none of your damn business and I'll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs! Just kidding, and extra points if you can guess where that's from, but really, I don't know if your review was a flame or not. So, uh, keep reading I guess, if you like the story...
MysticAngel4: Wow, you reviewed without ever reading the story? That's nice of you, though I'm curious as to how you came to the conclusion that fairies are incapable of romantic feelings. But that's neither here nor there really, because what I really want to do is thank you for the Mary Sue warning, I'll be sure to avoid that death trap. FYI: Aldonza is the actual name of Don Quixote's lady, the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, and I thought it sounded cool.
I'm actually shocked by the variety of shippers my fic has attracted and I can't please you all unless I make some characters schizophrenic, which doesn't quite work for the canon. I've just about decided on a pairing, which I believe I'll keep to myself for the time being **evil smirk**. All I'll say is, it'll probably make some people unhappy, but that's the price one pays I suppose.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
Holly crouched in the shroud of dark green, her eyes fiercely alert and trained on her subject; the girl by the bonfire. Not a muscle in the fairy's body moved, she was as still as million-year-old stone, which made her school-girl shriek all the more humiliating when Caesar emerged from the darkness beside her.
"Food's ready," he said, utterly unaware of how close Holly came to jamming her Neutrino up his button-shaped nose as he retreated into the LEP blind the team had set up the first night on duty. Holly followed without comment, her throat too seized up in fright, anger, and embarrassment to respond. The thought drifted across her mind that Caesar would do quite well in a stealth unit, but she didn't dare tell him.
"Ah, so return's our fearless leader," Chix jibed over the bubbling pot inside the blind. Caesar took his place beside Grub, waiting for their evening meal.
"Fearless enough to face another night of your cooking," Holly shot back, and then turned to the fourth officer under her command, "What's your report, Private?"
The tiny, even by People standards, elf flinched automatically and turned wide, washed-out lavender eyes on her captain. Not for the first time Holly wondered how such a timid and scatter-shot recruit had made it through training. The private's name was Tulip Yern, and Holly had yet to see a glimmer of strength in her insubstantial body. More out of pity than anything else, Holly put her to the task of monitoring the deterioration of Aldonza's cover "N-nothing too new, ma'am, it's progressing at the expected rate. Her f-face is nearly all sprite; wings and skin should be next, maybe in the next few hours."
Holly frowned, and Tulip ducked her head, as if she was to blame for the bad news. Denying herself a moment of concern over Tulip, Holly announced in a voice intended for all in the blind to hear, "That's it. Grub, send a message to Root, we're not waiting any longer. Suit up, folks, we're bringing her home."
"But what about dinner?" Grub immediately groaned, but Holly's mind was made up. Through Foaly's messages, she'd learned that once Aldonza was completely uncovered, she'd have no more protection against the dangers of the modern surface. The team itself was already beginning to feel its effects, so Holly figured Aldonza wouldn't have much of a chance if they waited until her time was up.
* ( * ( *
Aldonza watched the flames of the bonfire leap and dance, a smile easing onto her altered face. She was glad the sun had finally set; the light of it was hurting her eyes as of late. Her gaze drifted to Thomas and June as they busily chatted with friends of old. They were totally wrapped up in their activities, the girl noted as her smile turned sly.
"You got the stuff?" she casually inquired of the woman who had sidled up on her left.
"Kid, have I ever let you down?" the woman responded with a grin of her own.
Still not looking at her, Aldonza responded, "No, I suppose not."
The woman chuckled, a warm bubbling in her throat, "Just don't let your parents catch you with these, and I never will." She passed Aldonza the small package of CDs.
Aldonza palmed the plastic cases and handed over a container of oatmeal cookies as covertly as possible before finally facing her co- conspirator, "So, how ya' been, Sunbeam? How'd you lose the twins?"
Sunbeam's slim face split into a smile. Sunbeam's appearance had always reminded Aldonza of Mia Farrow, from her light voice to her curly hair the color of smooth peanut butter. How she handled such rambunctious boys as Sun and Stars she had no idea. "Oh, I told them they could play in the stream a half hour ago, haven't seen 'em since." The pair laughed together, and then Sunbeam studied her companion for a beat, "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you, Allie, I hardly recognized you."
Aldonza fought a wave of discomfort and her hand flew to her face, fingering her nose and newly-reshaped eyes. Every person she'd met had brought up the topic; all chalking it up to time apart, but only Aldonza knew the truth. Well, not the actual truth, but not far off either. "Yeah, well, what can I say?" she giggled nervously, and wished her parents weren't so intent on catching up with every solitary person at the party. Suddenly she gasped and her shoulders hunched as her body jerked at the twin bursts of piercing pain that sliced up her shoulders.
"Aldonza, sweetie, are you alright?" Sunbeam immediately asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Aldonza looked at the woman, her eyes wide with panic and Sunbeam recoiled as she took in her pain-twisted face, which was steadily turning green, "Whoa, honey, you're not looking too good. I'll go get your parents."
She darted away, leaving Aldonza to face a wave of nausea that sent her to the ground. Her eyes roved over the other party-goers, but no one took notice of her. She looked down at her body to find she was shaking, and with each tremor, growing smaller. The pain in her back was steady, and she could feel something pressing against the inside of her dress, but was distracted by her arms. Some sort of mist was washing over them as they shrunk, and as the mist cleared, her skin was a strange color. The firelight only made it possible to discern a marbled texture to the color, light with darker veins running through it. This phenomenon was occurring on her legs and she assumed her face as well. A ripping sound from behind her announced the formation of her translucent wings, and the sensation proved too much for young Aldonza. She dropped like a sack of bricks.
"Well, at least we didn't have to stun her," said a muffled voice from above her. Then, all was silent.
The LEP rescue team stood over the unconscious sprite, effectively hiding her from sight with their combined shields.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
A/N: And so ends Climax Number 1, hope you all enjoyed it. I may just negotiate a little more time from the pirates, so I can keep working on this; cuz now comes the fun part. Oh, and before I forget, in lieu of actually trying to understand the fairy aging process, I just added a zero onto all actual ages. In case anybody's curious.
EvilSpirit: I see you partake in the watching of Scrubs as well, how delightful. Thanks for the Butler pairing suggestion, but don't hold your breath. Keep reading, though!
Po-chan: Glad you're for the team, I wasn't sure how that'd pan out. As far as Trouble goes... It's kind of been a while since I read the books, and I'm not confident I'd be able to accurately portray him. So you also should continue breathing normally on that account.
The Reviewer14: Can I count to ten? That's none of your damn business and I'll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs! Just kidding, and extra points if you can guess where that's from, but really, I don't know if your review was a flame or not. So, uh, keep reading I guess, if you like the story...
MysticAngel4: Wow, you reviewed without ever reading the story? That's nice of you, though I'm curious as to how you came to the conclusion that fairies are incapable of romantic feelings. But that's neither here nor there really, because what I really want to do is thank you for the Mary Sue warning, I'll be sure to avoid that death trap. FYI: Aldonza is the actual name of Don Quixote's lady, the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, and I thought it sounded cool.
I'm actually shocked by the variety of shippers my fic has attracted and I can't please you all unless I make some characters schizophrenic, which doesn't quite work for the canon. I've just about decided on a pairing, which I believe I'll keep to myself for the time being **evil smirk**. All I'll say is, it'll probably make some people unhappy, but that's the price one pays I suppose.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
Holly crouched in the shroud of dark green, her eyes fiercely alert and trained on her subject; the girl by the bonfire. Not a muscle in the fairy's body moved, she was as still as million-year-old stone, which made her school-girl shriek all the more humiliating when Caesar emerged from the darkness beside her.
"Food's ready," he said, utterly unaware of how close Holly came to jamming her Neutrino up his button-shaped nose as he retreated into the LEP blind the team had set up the first night on duty. Holly followed without comment, her throat too seized up in fright, anger, and embarrassment to respond. The thought drifted across her mind that Caesar would do quite well in a stealth unit, but she didn't dare tell him.
"Ah, so return's our fearless leader," Chix jibed over the bubbling pot inside the blind. Caesar took his place beside Grub, waiting for their evening meal.
"Fearless enough to face another night of your cooking," Holly shot back, and then turned to the fourth officer under her command, "What's your report, Private?"
The tiny, even by People standards, elf flinched automatically and turned wide, washed-out lavender eyes on her captain. Not for the first time Holly wondered how such a timid and scatter-shot recruit had made it through training. The private's name was Tulip Yern, and Holly had yet to see a glimmer of strength in her insubstantial body. More out of pity than anything else, Holly put her to the task of monitoring the deterioration of Aldonza's cover "N-nothing too new, ma'am, it's progressing at the expected rate. Her f-face is nearly all sprite; wings and skin should be next, maybe in the next few hours."
Holly frowned, and Tulip ducked her head, as if she was to blame for the bad news. Denying herself a moment of concern over Tulip, Holly announced in a voice intended for all in the blind to hear, "That's it. Grub, send a message to Root, we're not waiting any longer. Suit up, folks, we're bringing her home."
"But what about dinner?" Grub immediately groaned, but Holly's mind was made up. Through Foaly's messages, she'd learned that once Aldonza was completely uncovered, she'd have no more protection against the dangers of the modern surface. The team itself was already beginning to feel its effects, so Holly figured Aldonza wouldn't have much of a chance if they waited until her time was up.
* ( * ( *
Aldonza watched the flames of the bonfire leap and dance, a smile easing onto her altered face. She was glad the sun had finally set; the light of it was hurting her eyes as of late. Her gaze drifted to Thomas and June as they busily chatted with friends of old. They were totally wrapped up in their activities, the girl noted as her smile turned sly.
"You got the stuff?" she casually inquired of the woman who had sidled up on her left.
"Kid, have I ever let you down?" the woman responded with a grin of her own.
Still not looking at her, Aldonza responded, "No, I suppose not."
The woman chuckled, a warm bubbling in her throat, "Just don't let your parents catch you with these, and I never will." She passed Aldonza the small package of CDs.
Aldonza palmed the plastic cases and handed over a container of oatmeal cookies as covertly as possible before finally facing her co- conspirator, "So, how ya' been, Sunbeam? How'd you lose the twins?"
Sunbeam's slim face split into a smile. Sunbeam's appearance had always reminded Aldonza of Mia Farrow, from her light voice to her curly hair the color of smooth peanut butter. How she handled such rambunctious boys as Sun and Stars she had no idea. "Oh, I told them they could play in the stream a half hour ago, haven't seen 'em since." The pair laughed together, and then Sunbeam studied her companion for a beat, "You've grown so much since the last time I saw you, Allie, I hardly recognized you."
Aldonza fought a wave of discomfort and her hand flew to her face, fingering her nose and newly-reshaped eyes. Every person she'd met had brought up the topic; all chalking it up to time apart, but only Aldonza knew the truth. Well, not the actual truth, but not far off either. "Yeah, well, what can I say?" she giggled nervously, and wished her parents weren't so intent on catching up with every solitary person at the party. Suddenly she gasped and her shoulders hunched as her body jerked at the twin bursts of piercing pain that sliced up her shoulders.
"Aldonza, sweetie, are you alright?" Sunbeam immediately asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Aldonza looked at the woman, her eyes wide with panic and Sunbeam recoiled as she took in her pain-twisted face, which was steadily turning green, "Whoa, honey, you're not looking too good. I'll go get your parents."
She darted away, leaving Aldonza to face a wave of nausea that sent her to the ground. Her eyes roved over the other party-goers, but no one took notice of her. She looked down at her body to find she was shaking, and with each tremor, growing smaller. The pain in her back was steady, and she could feel something pressing against the inside of her dress, but was distracted by her arms. Some sort of mist was washing over them as they shrunk, and as the mist cleared, her skin was a strange color. The firelight only made it possible to discern a marbled texture to the color, light with darker veins running through it. This phenomenon was occurring on her legs and she assumed her face as well. A ripping sound from behind her announced the formation of her translucent wings, and the sensation proved too much for young Aldonza. She dropped like a sack of bricks.
"Well, at least we didn't have to stun her," said a muffled voice from above her. Then, all was silent.
The LEP rescue team stood over the unconscious sprite, effectively hiding her from sight with their combined shields.
* ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( * ( *
A/N: And so ends Climax Number 1, hope you all enjoyed it. I may just negotiate a little more time from the pirates, so I can keep working on this; cuz now comes the fun part. Oh, and before I forget, in lieu of actually trying to understand the fairy aging process, I just added a zero onto all actual ages. In case anybody's curious.