Chapter 3: An Old Enemy Returns

The spring equinox had finally arrived and that meant it was time to kick off the Festival of Flowers. The fairy world was decorated with ribbons and paper flowers, all in spring colors. Princess Lapis and Prince Jamie were seated with the three fairy queens in the royal seating up on the stage with the Vernal Blossom up at the front. The fairies and folks from the kingdom of Delmarva had gathered around, waiting for the festival to begin.

The young fairy princess was still a little anxious about having the whole festival resting on her shoulders. Then, she looked and saw the familiar, comforting faces of her friends smiling at her from within the crowd. There was some kind of magic that friends had that could tell you that everything was going to okay without saying a word, which was something that Lapis was in desperate need of.

She arose from her throne and walked to the front of the stage to greet the awaiting crowd.

"Attention, everyone." the fairy princess declared. "Welcome to the annual Festival of Flowers."

All the humans and fairies in the crowd cheered wildly with excitement.

"And let me say, it is an honor to have the citizens of the kingdom of Delmarva here to join us for our first-ever fairy/human mixer." she continued as the fairies cheered for the humans. "So without any further ado, let the Festival of Flowers begin!"

But just before the fairies send their magic into the Vernal Blossom, Jamie noticed something coming over from across the horizon and hurried up to his wife and asked, "Hey Lapis, what's that up in the sky?"

"Storm clouds?" Lapis said, squinting up at the sky. "We're supposed to have clear skies."

The fortuitous clouds caught the attention of the other fairies and humans as well. When the clouds got closer and blocked out the sun, some of the fairies and humans noticed snow falling from above. And then in a whirlwind of snowflakes, someone Lapis never imagined she'd ever see again appeared before everyone.

"Jasper?" Stevonnie questioned, startled. "That's impossible."

There was no mistaking the figure's menacing yellow eyes and wild white hair. However, her orange and black wings were now gone and she was wearing a black, silk dress with a matching boots and cape. Princess Lapis, Prince Jamie, and Lapis' friends rushed over to confront the ill-boding visitor.

"Hello, little Lapis Lazuli." the wicked, wingless fairy sneered. "So you're a princess now? What a joke. Anyway, did you miss me?"

"Hardly." answered Lapis. "I thought you were destroyed when we last battled you at the Tree of Life."

"Not exactly." Jasper said to her. "You see, after you unleashed that blast of magnified magic; my body was reduced to a cloud of smoke and I was exiled to the forbidden Flint Mountains. There, I absorbed the dark magic from the rocks and regained my physical form."

"Then, why are your wings gone?" asked Peridot.

"You fool." the corrupted fairy replied, not believing who clueless the green fairy sounded. "Every fairy knows that you permanently lose your wings as punishment for commiting an inexcusable crime to fairy kind."

"But if you spent over a year in the Flint Mountains in exile, then why did you come back?" Steven inquired.

"Well during my exile, I discovered the tomb of an ancient, evil malefactor that was bent on ruling over all fairies." explained Jasper. "I spent months trying to find a way to awaken her spirit and resurrect her. I knew that she was the one who could help me achieve my creed of revenge."

"Wait, who is this villian you're talking about?" Princess Lapis interrupted as the three queens arrived to accompany the young royal fairy.

"What do you mean 'who?'" the orange, wingless fairy responded. "Malachite."

The fairy queens were paralyzed with anxiety at the name that the fairy witch had said.

"Malachite?" Pink Diamond echoed with fear.

"Who's Malachite?" asked Ruby, Sapphire, and Lapis in perfect unison.

Blue Diamond put her hands on the fairy princess's shoulders as she clarified, "A very long time ago, a fairy was born under a full moon; but it's light was blocked out by a dark cloud and the fairy that was born had an unhealthy, innate obsession with power. She used her harsh magic of ice and snow to subdue her enemies in order to claim her dominance, but there was one fairy who wasn't having it. Rose Quartz, a fairy who's magic came from love which was opposite to that of Malachite's challenged the evil fairy. After facing her off, Rose banished Malachite to the Flint Mountains and had her wings stripped for her crimes."

"Did Malachite come back for revenge?" Ruby inquired.

"Oh, yes." Pink Diamond replied. "From then on, Malachite was nicknamed the Ice Queen for her fearful powers and bitter demeanor. She sought to claim her vengeance by attempting to plunge all the world in an eternal winter, sending all the fairies into a permanent slumber."

As Lapis and Ruby gasped, Sapphire asked the pink fairy queen; "Well, how did Rose stop her?"

"She used a very powerful and ancient artifact known as the Seven Prism Wand." Yellow Diamond simplified. "However in order for the wand to work, Rose had to unleash her magic at maximum power, which was an act that would destroy Malachite and herself. But, she cared more about the lives of other fairies than her own, so she took the risk and both fairies were reduced to fairy dust."

There were brief, sorrow-filled gasps.

"While Rose Quartz was honored forever as a hero, Malachite's fairy dust was cast off back to the Flint Mountains and tucked away in a secret tomb." Blue Diamond added.

"It was secret, until I discovered it during my exile." Jasper brought up. "And the Seven Prism Wand has the power to do anything you can imagine, including bringing Malachite back to life. Once I uncover the whereabouts of the wand, I'll use it's magic for my nefarious needs and fulfill Malachite's dark purpose."

"Not if we stop you first." Princess Lapis protested.

"You really think I'm scared of a tiny fairy princess and her entourage?" the wingless fairy snickered.

"You should be." said Pearl. "You are aware that there's only one of you and hundreds of us."

"Who said that I came here alone?" asked the fairy witch as an army of human-sized, abominable snowmen appeared out of the blue.

And appearing alongside Jasper, was a masked man who wore a thick trench coat and a large hat that hid half of his face. He turned to the young fairy princess's direction and chortled wickedly.

With exchanged looks of fear amongst her friends, it was clear to Lapis that every fairy was in a world of trouble.