Author's Note: Hey guys! Last chapter, something monumental happened. Faith found a book that responded to her magic and took it - without permission - from the Home Tree Library.

Anyways, there are several questions this raises: who is Lyric Neverbreeze? What will this book be about? What will Faith do with the book?

I don't know but I think they will be answered sometime… soon. Hopefully. Yeah… Hopefully.

Either way, please read on and as always - enjoy!

Talented

4:

A beam of sunlight shone through the bright yellow ceiling of Faith Eveningswirls's sunflower home. The brown center of the flower acted as a rug that burst from each corner of the room. Sunflower petals stretched upwards towards the sky in a cone shape. The fairy in question yawned and walked over to the petal desk in marigold yellow sitting in the corner of the room.

She stretched and breathed in the clean morning scent of a summer breeze. It was every bit an ordinary day.

Faith froze when she spotted the thick leaf-bound volume sitting on bright surface. An inkling of guilt trickled down her throat. She had not signed the book out, and the Library did not know that it was missing - if they had known about its existence at all.

"It's all good," she chanted to herself, while pacing back and forth across the floor.

It's ok, she mused, putting her hand on the table to steady herself.

The book hadn't been touched in eons, and she wasn't committing any sins by Leaning against the brightly-painted surface, Faith touched the prussian blue cover of the Talentry Booke, fiercely telling herself that it was just like any other.

A book that just happened to be in a dark corner of the Pixie Hollow Library.

"It's at the back for a reason - it was probably Forbidden," a small voice at the back of her head whispered into her ear.

"Nonsense," she silenced the voice. "Keep it calm Faith. Don't talk to yourself. That's the first stage of insanity."

Shaking her head to clear it of her crazy thoughts, Faith strided back and forth in her home. She didn't know who in the Hollow she could consult about the mysterious book. Uncertain, she pulled out the papyrus sheet and unraveled it. She hovered her finger over the map and the standout features of each meadow area winked into existence.

A knock on her door. Faith spun around, wondering who it could be. The lightly carved door burst open to reveal the figure of Melody Snowsong.

"Hellooooooo!" her wild, curly-haired best friend trilled as she trotted into the room.

Faith was confused. "Melody?! How did you even know where I lived?"

"Helloooo? You wrote it down on a leaf for me?" She waved the leaf in question in the air indignantly.

"Oh. Right; sorry. I forgot," she replied, scratching her head in confusion.

Melody huffed as she collapsed on Faith's couch. "You act about 500 years old," she teased. "It's a bit too soon to be so forgetful, don't you think?"

"Oh uh," Faith hesitated, uncertain of whether or not Melody could be trusted with her secret book.

"Of course she is," the voice in the back of her head hissed. "She's your best friend."

Luckily for Faith, Melody took her pause as agreement. "Of course you agree," she said, slinging her arm around Faith's shoulders. "I am… always right!" A dramatic gesture was added to the jazz hands this time. Melody and her theatrics.

"Well, are we going to breakfast or not?" the fairy in question asked. "I don't know about you, but my stomach is growling more than a bear before hibernation!"

Laughing, Faith pushed open her door and followed Melody into the cool morning air. The water-talents' dew was suspended on plants and leaves, sending fractals of light around the meadow as the sunlight hit them.

Faith twisted the dull golden leather bracelet she wore on her wrist. White gems braided onto the leather glittered in the sun and she marveled at their similarity to the dew. She touched the outside of the bracelet, where she knew her name was engraved on the opposite side.

Every fairy in Pixie Hollow had one. They were one of the first Arrival Day gifts that a laugh was presented by his or her mentor and they were never meant to be taken off. In fact, they were a sort of identification; no two fairies had the same bracelet, and they were color-coded by talent. Faith's - as a light-talent - was golden; Melody's - a Tinker - was green; a water-talent's was made of blue leather, and a garden-talent's was pink.

It was beautiful. The day was perfectly normal. Except there was nothing normal about it.

Faith's nerves were frayed. She twisted her bracelet.

How does one hide such a secret?