A/N

Another update, shorter than the last two, but still rather interesting. Hope you all like the chapter, I'll probably leave updating this story to get the other two I'm updating updated.


"They say there is an old witch, who draws to her the handsome men of the world…" The storyteller began her story with a slow, spooky voice. "And she brings those men to her to fill in the vacant place in her heart for her lost lover. They say the witch entices these men to her home and cooks them a fantastic meal and warm wine. But…" She paused for dramatic emphasis here, "if there is something about the man she does not like, say they shake away her charms or their manners leave something to be desired, she changes them, to a form she believes suits them. Many are hideous shapes, others beautiful flowers, and still others birds, cats, dogs, frogs perhaps. But now you realize, men, young and old, stay away from the temptress, for you will lose yourself."

This was just one of the many stories being told around the fires. One man started talking about the dark lights that followed the magic blue, another was engrossed about telling a story of a warrior who died fighting a monster with no name, and another still was talking about fables and what they could teach before going off on one.

I heard several other tales that bore a strange resemblance to tales told back on my world too. There was story about maidens that live in towers with no doors, stories of fairy folk that would bewitch trespassers into their domain and kill them with dancing, but these stories were told to the wide eyed children, but none of the storytellers of these particular ones seemed to take them seriously.

The Celebration of Blue Lights was in full swing. It was very dark now and the only way a person could see was to stay beside the crackling fires. I was perched on a branch between Jubilee and Rahne, after being told by Max that this would be the best place to see the show. I did not have a clue about what she was talking about. Rahne asked, but Max just grinned and shook her head.

I knotted the sash around my waste a little tighter. I appear to be losing weight. I'm going to have to watch that, the last thing I need is to get thinner. Miraculously, I hadn't clumsily caught the sash on anything when I climbed onto the branch.

But the night is still young.

"But you see, the mountain lion had forgotten an important thing—"

"She led the men into her fairy ring and there they danced…Till the sun rose and they were no more…."

"But she could not escape, because there were no doors!"

"Look! Look! It's beginning!" A child jumped up and shouted, pointing to the woods. I and the other girls looked.

Slowly, little points of blue started blinking in the forest. Then there were more. And more. Soon the entire forest, even parts of the village were bathed in a blue light.

"Wow…" Rahne breathed, taking it all in. I had to agree. Then, what looked like pollen started to slowly come out of the blue light. Then I realized that it was too orderly to be pollen.

Butterflies. Big, beautiful, gaudy butterflies. They were glowing with blue light and flying off into the sky. There must have been hundreds of them. Thousands even. They swirled up into the sky as one, carrying with them the light from flowers.

They must all have been in the forest, waiting for the flowers to bloom with light.

"The pollen must stick to their wings and cause them to glow like that." Mr. McCoy mused, as he sat on a tree branch not far away. Kitty and Jean were standing on a rope bridge. Crepuscule was laying with his shoulder against a tree on the ground.

"Another magical migration underway." Khom said as he unexpectedly appeared on a platform beside us. "They'll carry the life of the woods far, and when the blue life is spent, they will return to gather more."

Carriers of magic.

Butterflies! Morphos butterflies are the carriers of magic!

"Is it magic?" I said, trying to contain my excitement of actually putting something into place.

"Some call it magic. Some life. Some call it the world's protection. It all depends on where you hail from, eh?"

"I guess so." I said with a nod. It was all I could do to keep a smirk off my face.

Hah, confuse me will you? We'll see who gets the last laugh. I'm going to figure this problem out.

When the Blue Light finally faded, people started to go to sleep. I followed my friends to a very spacious (compared to our last quarters) treehouse, where we all bedded down for the night.

I lay awake, thinking.

Morphos Butterflies are the carriers of magic. Which, in turn, must make them a key essential to the Soul King's plan. Well, I keep seeing them in places, after the hooded man, here…which means they're probably drawn to places of high magic, of course this is only speculation. But it's all I have. So, the Morpho are drawn to magic, which is why they come here to collect it. I guess the life of the woods is sucked up by the roots of the Blue Lights, which is in turn released to the Morphos. And as far as the hooded guy went, he was using a lot of magic. So, they may have been drawn to him.

Which tells me absolutely nothing except that he's probably really powerful, which I know already.

So, I have a vague idea what's going on. The Soul King plans on using lots of magic stuff, which is making the Morphos upset, and to complete his beginning plan, he must kill a human virgin from another world.

Golly gee, this is clearing itself right up, isn't it?

I rolled over and tried to go to sleep.


The morning was bright and cheery, and I instantly hated it. Usually I'm a morning person, but this morning wasn't all that great, I decided.

I was still up before most of the others were. Jean and Mr. McCoy were out talking to the villagers, getting directions.

I sat on the small platform ringing the house and lightly tapped the ladder that was to be my way down with my foot. I wondered where we could go next. I mean, this world is just full of surprises. In a way, it would be a shame to miss them all.

But life in another world calls, and I have to go back to it.

"Danny! Get the others up! We're going soon!" Jean called up to me. I got up and went back into the house and woke up the others.

"Time to get up guys, Jean said we're leaving soon."

"Man, it is too early in the morning." Kitty grumbled as she got up. "And my hair is a mess."

"So is mine, I'd fight the Blob for a brush." Jubilee said as she got up. Rahne looked at her.

"What makes you think he'd have one?"

We all managed to get down to the ground where we formed a semicircle around Jean. Crepuscule came up behind me and stood awaiting orders.

"We're going to head north. There's a city to the north, and we may be able to find more of the others. Now, we have to stay together," pointed glare in my direction, "because of that thing that attacked us yesterday. There may be more. We may need all of us to help bring it down."

"Now, we've managed to acquire some supplies you will all have to carry. One pack per person. And you, Mr. Crepuscule, would it be alright if you carried several?" Mr. McCoy asked the being behind me.

Crepuscule barely nodded.

"Very well. The let's get packing!"

The packs were heavy with food and other things. Max and Khom had managed to wrangle a nice bit of food for all of us. I think they knew we were gunning for hard times ahead.

I tied the packs on Crepuscule quickly. He stayed still for me as I worked to make sure they wouldn't impair his flight if he needed to run. I patted him on the neck when I finished and waited for the others.

Kitty was very happy about the whole situation. "Guys! Did you realize that we are all girls, except for Mr. McCoy and the big horse thing? I mean this is totally girl power."

Yeah. Right. I curled my fingers a few times. The injury I sustained to my hands had finally stopped hurting and when I checked my hands, the skin was still raw, and stitched, but it was looking better all of the time.

Jean handed Mr. McCoy what looked like a map. I fell in step at the back of the line when we all headed back out into the forest, with Crepuscule by my side. Some of the children waved. I smiled at them and waved back. But none of them followed us to the edge of the forest.

"Just keep heading North!" Was Max's last piece of advice. I nodded and waved goodbye.

The forest stayed silent as we waded through the ankle deep moss that began to cover the forest a few meters after we went in. The blue flowers remained open, a reminder of last night's display.

But now, the forest seemed a little more alive. I assume the Soul King's soldier had frightened the animals away, but now they were here in plain view.

There were big deer, almost as tall at the shoulder as Crepuscule, with a crown of antlers so large I wondered how they could move between the trees. There were little four legged ball of fluff that clung to the trees, eating the bark. And every now and then, I saw the brilliant flash of golden birds as they flitted just above the treetops.

And there was menace in the dead hollows that I could not see, but could hear.

Rahne, Kitty, and Jubilee joked. Jean immediately went into a stern leader mode and directed everyone while Mr. McCoy paid very close attention to the map and compass he'd been given. Crepuscule and I said nothing. Sometimes he asked me questions about what the three girls ahead of us were talking about, but most of the time I was alone with my thoughts on the forest around us.

And what would happen next.


What indeed?

PrincessOfWildfire: I want to see that movie soon, I heard it was great. Glad you loved it!

Anon(girl): Yup. I know exactly what you mean. I've had problems with allergies like that. A leprechaun! You can't find a better worker, they're usually pretty good as long as you keep handing them gold. Hope you like this chapter!

Raliena: That's something I've noticed about bats—some are really heavy sleepers. Others just look at you in confusion when you wake them up. Hope you like the chapter!

asp: Heh, I guess it depends on how long it would be. It would be great to have both. Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this one too!

Herman is handing out fake blue flowers for all readers! Put them next to a flashlight and they look like they're glowing blue! Oh, and he will also take the reviews!