The Butterfly Summer – Chapter 11

I didn't get to see my sister until later, but I could hear them as they rushed in and out of the room across the divider.

Niral, a sweet and young little nurse fairy, smiled compassionately up from her work from applying some wing healing balm on my slight withered wings to help them heal, but unbeknownst to her I could sense something more as I rubbed at my eyes.

"Are you worried?" she asked me, thinking it was tears as she watched me turn around and she patted my hand. "I would be, too."

Shaking my head, I was becoming aware of another vision as it clouded my sight. Laying back down, I rubbed at my head as out of the corner of my eye, underneath the dim glow of the lantern they had pointed at my wings, I saw the edges of my glass-tinted wings start to glow, again, as I saw him …

On his cot in the study, Thomas hugged his journal close to his chest as fresh tears began to fall from his cheeks. Clutching his blanket and turning away, the book fell down to the side and revealed the first page, which revealed a portrait of a young lady holding a younger boy with tawny short and wavy brown hair, too, close as she kissed him on the cheek, to which showed him laughing.

Rubbing my temple, I saw through the eyes of a tiger, which hovered close to the window of the house, the title of the journal, "My and Mom's Butterfly Log, A Collection of Rare Butterflies that we saw together on our First Summer."

There was more to it, but I couldn't read it due to the fading vision, but I had seen enough to know why he collecting butterflies, but there was a bigger issue now at hand besides a grieving heart and the life of my sister hanging in the balance of it, too.

"I'm not worried," I said, sighing as she turned off the lamp, to which my wings slightly fluttered back to life after I arched them and swung my legs around to where I could sit up for a bit. "I just feel like I have a slight headache."

"I can see if we have anything to help," she said, signaling to someone else outside the tent as she flew out. "Hold tight, I'll be right back."

"When can I see …?" I started to say, before I looked up to see that she was gone. As the leaf curtain dropped, the room dimmed to a slighter dark tone as I got to my shaky feet and gazed back at my wings.

They no longer showed any signs of fading, but the brown edges had separated the transparency of my wings into two areas that glistened like "tiny mirrors" that I had seen before on Thasly.

Again, Thasly's gift filled my mind as I heard crack of her passing break away from my essence as I remembered the long, swift breeze of the Never Sea find me and coursed me back on course, away from the mainland and away from my friend who I never saw fall out of the sky.

Looking at them, I recognized them as the wings of Thasly, but it meant something else, too. I had a way to save my sister, if all went well.

Hearing the door, I hid against the edge of the door frame as I peeked out from where it had open to hear Niral shout out.

I didn't mean to frighten her, but before she could look for me, I threw up some of a small hand full of fresh pixie dust I had left over and stored in my pocket, just in case of a quick getaway.

Flying out of the room, I flew high and watched as the door to my door stormed open as several nurse fairies and doctor sparrow men spawned several directions for me, which by the way never included up.

"What's going on out here?" Seeing Annora peek out of my sister's tent, she immediately looked up and saw me, calling out, "Mari! There you are. Why didn't you say you were here?"

"I've been trying," Mari called down, seeing the nurses start to gather.

"There she is!" Niral called, pausing and sitting a knowing hand on her mouth as she realized. "Oh."

"I refuse anymore treatment," Mari called, lowering herself down to Annora's level as she stepped out and signaled that it was ok. "I only want to see Posy, please. My wings are fine!"

"But the …" one of the doctors tried to say before Mari pulled out her flute and blew into it, to which her wings glowed intricately and fluttered cohesively as her fairy glow radiated for all to see, her wings lightly shrinking back in the place as the brown markings grew more concentrated but the white scales remained in place of wing's pattern.

"It's part of her talent," Nora said knowingly, escorting Mari inside and assuring them at the same time. "If anything changes, we'll send for you."

"Thanks," was all Mari said as she turned to see her sister's frail form covered up in bed as she was resting.

Walking over, she knelt down near the side of the bed as she took the seat next to her sister and took her sister's hand in her own. "How is she?"

"Resting, for now," Annora said, coming over. "We were thinking it was mainly stress about earlier, but then this happened."

"How?" I asked, despite the event in the back of my mind that every fairy dreaded as an evident answer.

"Disbelief, my child," Sunflower said, allowing herself in and taking in both of our gazes as she frowned down at Posibelle's fading fairy glow. "It's the only thing I can think of that would explain this."

"Fairies are not real!" I heard Thomas' words echo past my ears, as Annora picked up on it, too. Her expression said she had as she let out a gasp, to which I nodded.

The Minister, though, was undiscerning as she looked from her and back to me. "What?"

"Tommy," I whispered, feeling that spark across my wings, again. "I have to help him believe, again, somehow. But I can't leave Posy, not like this."

"Dear, what are you talking about?" she asked, watching at I thought back to when the Queen had given me my flute.

"I have a feeling you'll need it," I heard the Queen's wise words replay themselves in my mind, again, as I lifted my flute up to blow up a high trill that radiated my glow, next to my sister's which caused her to softly blink open her eyes. That's it!

Drawing my hand away from Posy on the bed, I made sure the curtains were drawn as I flew up to check the skylight, just enough room to fly out, I concluded.

"Mari?"

Managing to sit up in bed, my sister was all but barely a glimmer as she pushed herself up, the Minister having her lend on her as she cradled my sister in her arms. "Are you …?"

"Forgive me, Posy," I said to her as the Minister laid her back down, her eyes dropping.

"Poor dear, she's getting weaker," Sunflower said, feeling of my sister's head. "Oh."

"How long?" I demanded to know as the Minister looked up with a solemn shake as I ripped my flute from my neck, the soft string breaking in two as I unfurled my wings and said, "Stand back!"

Blowing hard into my reed, I felt my glow strengthen and my wings grow warm as I felt my pixie dust preen off of my wings and start to surround me like a whirlwind.

"Nora, take the Minister's hand," I dictated, watching in my cocoon as Annora did just as I asked and backed up both of them against the side, Sunflower realizing upon what I was fixing to do.

"Marisol, what are you thinking?" I heard her breathe as I resounded another note into my flute that increased the wrapping of the dust as I felt my wings grow to bug size.

One last thing, I said to myself as I took ahold of my sister's hand and closed my eyes, a tear trailing my cheek as it travelled down my arm to touch the trickle glow of my sister's skin that remained and started to glow.

As a warm tinkling worked its way through my fingers down into her, I felt my own self change as I blew my remaining pixie dust onto her and gave her my own glow of our bond, her fairy glow resounding to a healthy pixie yellow, at least … for now.

Facing the others, I whispered, "Take care of her" and then took off, my big glass wings lifting me off the ground at high speed, at least as fast as a butterfly could go at this size, and crawled through the skylight and out into the night.

I didn't know it would work, but if my plan was going to do anything, I needed to get to Lizzy's house fast. And, at the rate I was going, I didn't need my pixie dust for this. Feeling the strong current under my wings, I folded my arms underneath me as I sped off and didn't look back.

"She did what?!" Posibelle exploded as Emma, Winter, Fira, and River joined us in the room as the Minister stepped out to think.

The truth was, Posy did look a whole better, but her diminished glow was still a concern. At least she wasn't weak like before, whatever Mari did … But it had come at a price.

"Where is she now?!" Posy cried out, wanting to know.

"We aren't sure, but I may have an idea where she's going," Emma said, sitting on the bed. "We found this."

Holding her sister's personalized dust bag, which included a thread stitch of an actual painted glass butterfly with blue morpho wings blended into it to symbolize Papillion, Posy looked confused as she heard Emma speak. "How?"

"She's may not just be a fairy anymore, Posy," Emma said. "We think she may have turned into …"

Clap!

"Stop," Annora said, hearing something out of the blue. "What's that?"

Clap! Clap!

Realizing what was happening, the Minister burst into the room and sat near Posy's bed as she shouted, "Quick, all of you. Take who you need with you and quickly fly off to Lizzy's abode. That's where she is!"

Seeing their hesitation, the Minister assured them, "I'll look after her. You must go, quickly!"

Shooing them all out, she sent them on their way as she returned to the edge of her young fairy's side as Posy saw her wings sparkle back to life and her glow return.

"What's … What's happening?"

"I don't know how your sister did it," Sunflower said, watching with relief. "But she may just be saving your life."

Don't worry, the story is not over yet. I just had to write this chapter while it was in my head. Hope you enjoy it and until next time! :)