Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.
Author's Note: I never wanted to do a "New Arrival" story (lots of them already), but this tale seems to have wandered in that direction. Alright, let's just grit our teeth and get through this.
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Lizzy's Sunset - Chapter 4 - New Arrival
She floated alone, in a silent gray fog. Her head felt so fuzzy.
"Where am I?" she thought. "Who... am I?"
"Hello?" she called "Is anyone there?" Only silence. Not even an echo.
She looked at her hands, then down at the rest of her body. Everything seemed to be proper. She felt her face and head. No hurts, that she could tell.
"Who am I?" she thought again, "How did I get here?" She grasped her elbows, closed her eyes, and tried to remember. After a considerable time thinking, she heard a tiny sound.
She snapped her eyes open, looking for the source. There it was again. She knew that sound.
A third time. The sound was louder. It could almost be... "...a baby's laugh." she said.
It sounded at irregular intervals, growing in volume. Her foot touched a surface. She looked down, startled, and could almost see shapes moving. Her elbow and other foot touched surfaces. She reached out, and touched a surface with something moving beyond it. Her space was getting smaller. She tucked her legs and arms in.
"How much smaller can this space get?" she asked herself, as she was nudged from all sides. Outside her space, she could almost see herself floated face-down onto a platform, or stage. She turned her head a bit, and saw someone drift up to her, holding a large cup.
She couldn't see what was being poured over her, but saw gold sparkles flooding onto the stage. She felt twin tuggings on her back, and a strong, not unpleasant tingling. Suddenly her back was free!
She uncurled to a kneeling position, and looked around. People like her were perched on seats around her stage. They all had large eyes, pointed ears, and insect-type wings.
They were all smiling and greeting her with many "Hello"s.
She smiled warmly back at them, and sighed happily to herself, "Fairies."
Tinker Bell just loved attending the arrival of new fairies. As far as she was concerned, it was at least as fun as Fairy Tale Theater. The spring rush was over, so Bobble and Clank were with her. They had no problem finding seats around the New Arrival stage, as many of the nature fairies were still on the Mainland. They joked and talked shop until they heard the crowd go quiet.
Tizzywing was on New Arrival duty this week. She gently wafted the lilac flower onto the center of the Arrival stage. Not as "showy" as Vidia, but she got the job done.
Stone was the current New Arrival dustkeeper, and he took his job seriously. He floated a heaping cup of pixie dust to the lilac flower without dropping a smidge. Everyone held their breath as he carefully poured the dust. A pair of wings sprang from the dust shower, and a new fairy followed them. Everyone exhaled.
"Oh, I just love this." Tink smiled "They always look so confused. I was never like that, was I Bobble?"
"You were EXACTLY like that." Bobble returned, with a grin.
"Hello." said Tink with the other fairies, "Hello! ...she can't hear me anyway." As the new fairy turned to face the tinkers' direction, Tinker Bell jumped as if smacked in the face by a bug.
"Incanta's Ghost!" she gasped in shock.
"What's wrong, Tink?" asked Clank.
"That new fairy... she looks exactly like Lizzy Griffiths!"
"Lizzy who?" asked Clank.
"Not the Lizzy you told us about, a month ago...?" inquired Bobble.
"It's HER." Tink's eyes stayed locked on the new fairy.
"But you said she... died." added Bobble.
"I'm telling you, that fairy is the spitting image of Lizzy Griffiths."
"That can't be." Clank shook his head, "Dead humans don't become fairies, ...do they?"
"I need to talk to her." Tink said, getting up.
"Now wait a tick." Bobble grabbed her. "Let the poor young thing first get sorted out."
Tinker Bell reluctantly sat down, eyes never leaving the new fairy. "Lizzy..." she whispered.
"I'm flying!" gushed the new fairy, "Look at me! Whee! I'm a fairy!"
"Settle down now." smiled Clarion. "We still need to find your talent." A dozen or so fairies brought their talent-tokens to the mushroom-tables, as the new fairy landed lightly on the stage.
"Touch each token." Clarion instructed the new fairy, "You'll know when you've found your talent."
The fairy touched each one, but they all dropped, darkened, fizzled, or faded for her. Clarion gestured for another different group of tokens, which were placed on the mushroom-tables.
"Try again, dear." Clarion told the fairy, who wandered to each token, with the same results.
Clarion gestured again for the 3rd and final group of tokens that the fairies had to present.
"One more time, sweetheart." she encouraged the new fairy.
When the last token dropped, the fairy turned to Clarion. "Does this mean I have to go?" she asked, miserable.
"Of course not, dear." Clarion consoled her, "It just means your talent is so rare, we'll have to work a little harder at finding it. In the meantime, I have a royal apartment you can stay in."
Clarion glided to the fairy. "Let's see if I can at least find your name." She placed her hand on the fairy's head and closed her eyes.
"Your name is Liz..." Clarion paused and frowned, then said "Your name is Beth." Clarion opened her eyes and gave Beth a puzzled look. She then spoke to the crowd, "Fairies, please welcome Beth to Pixie Hollow."
The fairies fluttered to the Arrival Stage, surrounding Beth, and all talking at once. Tinker Bell strode toward the crowd, gazing at Beth.
"Tinker Bell, may I have a word with you in private?" Clarion spoke over the chatter. Tink stopped, glanced at her queen, then at Beth. "This way, Tinker Bell." Tink followed her queen to the back of the stage.
"Queen Clarion..." started Tink.
"Quietly, please." Clarion interrupted, glancing at the cluster of fairies.
"Queen Clarion, that new fairy is Lizzy Griffiths." Tink asserted, with a lowered voice.
Clarion eyed Beth, wringing her hands "I don't..., I'm not..."
"Lizzy? Beth?" said Tink, "You KNOW."
"I only had a moment to choose another name." offered Clarion, composing herself. "Tinker Bell, whoever she may have been in the past, she is now a New Arrival fairy. Do you understand? Asking her for memories she doesn't have could only cause her anguish."
Tink backed off, asking "How could this happen, Your Highness?"
"I don't know. I think it certainly deserves investigation. I have... sources who might know. In the meantime, I must insist that you keep what you may know about ...Beth... between just ourselves."
"She always wanted to be a fairy." Tink reminisced, then asked "What about her missing talent?"
"Every fairy has a talent. It's not the first time we've seen this. We'll try her out on the rare ones, and proceed from there. If you have any suggestions...?"
Tink thought back to the talent-tokens that failed. "Lizzy liked to paint & draw, but she's not an art-talent. She worked hard on her journal, but she's not a writing-talent. She had a pet cat, but she's not an animal-talent. We got her flying, but she'd never be a fast-flyer. Other than that, I'm not sure."
"We'll find it." Clarion said, with confidence. "Treat her gently, Tinker Bell. As any New Arrival."
"I will." promised Tink. Clarion slid backwards, and dissolved into 3 sparkling balls, which flew off. Tink looked around the Arrival Stage, but Beth and most of the fairies were gone. "Probably getting the grand tour." thought Tink, with a half-smile. Bobble and Clank were still there, walking up to Tink.
"What was that about?" asked Bobble.
"Uh, nothing really." fibbed Tink. "Listen, guys... don't tell anyone what I told you about the new fairy, OK?" Bobble And Clank glanced at each other.
"Who would believe us?" grinned Clank.
Tink, Bobble and Clank took their time flying back to Tinker's Nook. The 2 boys noticed she was unusually quiet.
"A smidge for your thoughts..." prodded Bobble.
"What?" responded Tink "Oh. I was just thinking... What do you guys remember about Lizzy?"
"Well," began Bobble "She was good-natured."
Clank: "Polite."
Bobble: "Trustworthy."
Clank: "Brave."
Bobble: "Considerate."
Clank: "Smart."
"And a good worker." finished Bobble.
"You're right." reflected Tink "Those are good fairy qualities. Maybe she'll make a good fairy after all."
"We could do worse." Clank laughed.
"I'm almost afraid to meet her now." confessed Tink "What if I say the wrong thing?"
"She's a New Arrival without a talent." said Bobble "Queen Clarion will keep her busy for a while. You'll think of something by then."
"I sure hope so." fretted Tink.
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More of Lizzy/Beth in chapter 5!