Chapter Three: The Pixies' Plan
At Tecna's house, Darcy and Stormy were practicing their singing, Darcy sang while Stormy played the magical flute, and Icy played the piano and kept track of her daughters' notes. Darcy was a terrible singer, however Icy did not let that stop her from trying to make them look better than Tecna. Meanwhile, Tecna was vacuuming the main entrance of the house; she had a secret that she didn't want the witches to know, however it was uncovered while she was cleaning. The secret was that Tecna could sing beautifully and lyrically, she knew the song that her step sisters were practicing by heart and sung in unconsciously while vacuuming. She was so caught up in her song that she didn't realize that the vacuum was puffing dust everywhere.
"Ugh, Darcy must have flicked the switch before I used it, they're so mean to me." Tecna sighed, just then, the mailbox notification beeped from the side of the door, and she went to get the mail. It was an email message from the palace, informing her of the ball that night. Digit and Lockette flew into the room, cautious of being seen by the witches.
"What does it say?" They asked her excitedly, "What does it say?"
"I don't know, I'm not going to look at it before Icy does." Tecna told them as she walked upstairs to inform the witches, "Maybe I should interfere with their lesson, it could be crucial."
Upstairs, Stormy continued to play her flute, unaware that she was hitting Darcy in the chin with it.
"You're such an idiot, Stormy!" Darcy shouted irritably, grabbing the flute and hitting Stormy on the head with it. Storm took it back and gave Darcy a good bonk on the head with the flute as they began to argue.
"That's enough, you two." Icy shouted, breaking up the fight, "You must have some self-control." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and knowing it was Tecna, Icy turned sharply to the door.
"What do you want, Tecna!" she snapped harshly as Tecna opened the door silently, "I told you never to interrupt the girls'-"
"I know, but an email just arrived from the palace." Tecna replied.
"The palace!" Darcy and Stormy shrieked, "Give that little gadget here!" They both snatched Tecna's PDA out of her hands so that could read the e-mail, though Icy had grabbed it just in time before the two sisters had managed to break it. Digit and Lockette peeked their heads from a whole in the wall to watch what was going on.
"A ball is being held at the Zenith Royal palace tonight." Icy summarized the e-mail, "And every available woman in Zenith should attend."
"That means we have to go." Darcy scoffed.
"And I may be able to find myself a wealthy man to dance with." Stormy added evilly.
"Well, logically stating, I should be able to attend the ball as well." Tecna pointed out as the pixies watches from the wall.
"You can't be serious, Tecna." Stormy laughed, "You can't even dance, and besides, you'd probably bore the prince with your techno-babble."
"I am still a legal member of the family." Tecna protested, "and it does say every available woman in Zenith."
"Yes, unfortunately it does say that." Icy huffed, "There isn't a reason why you can't go, at least not according to the invitation. I suppose we can swallow our pride for one night, as long as you get all your work done, and find something to wear." She was hiding every bit of sarcasm she possibly could.
"I am positive I can find something." Tecna gasped in total surprise, "Thank you Icy, this is the best thing you've ever let me do!" Then she ran out of the room in complete happiness.
"Mother, have you gone soft on her, she's a total waste of fairy wings, and bringing her will only ruin our reputation!" Darcy protested in total panic.
"Relax, girls, she won't be able to get all her chores done in time, and even if she does, I have a plan to make sure she won't be able to attend the ball at the Zenithian palace." Icy laughed wickedly.
Up in Tecna's bedroom, she managed to find an old trunk containing a purple and white dress, and she pulled it out and slipped in on to a mannequin that she found in the basement.
"It looks a bit outdated." Tune, another pixie, replied.
"Yes, well it is a bit old, it was my mother's." Tecna told them, "I'll be able to fix it up."
"How are you going to do that?" Lockette asked Tecna, with all her technology, Tecna had a palm sized pad with a touch screen, and showed the pixies a picture of an updated dress, and beside it, the dress she had.
"I'll need to shorten the sleeves first, then I'll need a few fabric materials, and maybe some lace-" Tecna began, dragging her alterations on the touch screen as the pixies watched. Suddenly she heard the witches call her name.
"Tecna, get down here right now!" they called her.
"Oh, now what?" Tecna sighed, "I guess my dress has to take second priority to them." and then she left.
"Poor Tecna," Digit replied sadly, "As soon as she gets a moment of peace, they start yelling for her again. They just want to keep her busy. Lets face it, she won't be able to go to that ball."
"What?" The rest of the pixies asked in unison.
"You'll soon see, they'll keep her so busy she won't get her dress finished." Digit continued.
"You're right, Digit." Lockette agreed sadly, "Poor Tecna."
"I have an idea!" Chetta cheered, "We can do it for her!"
"What a great idea Chetta!" the pixies agreed.
"Well lets get to work!" Amore announced, and they began getting out all the materials as Digit went over the things they needed from the palm pad Tecna had left on the floor.
"We'll began up here." Tune told Digit and Lockette, "You two get everything we need from downstairs." And so Digit and Lockette slide through a passageway down to one of downstairs rooms in the huge house.
As the two pixies reached an opening in the wall, they heard Stormy and Darcy shouting and tossing article after article of clothing in Tecna's arms.
"Don't forget these!" Darcy continued.
"And my slippers as well!" Stormy added.
"Once you're finished those, I have a few extra things for you to do before you continue your regular chores, Tecna." Icy replied.
"Of course, Icy." Tecna lowered her head and turned to leave the room.
"Why is it that everyone else has nice things to wear, and all I get is hand me downs!" Stormy shouted, "this sash, absolute garbage!" Then she tossed the purple sash she had on the floor.
"I agree with you Stormy, I am sick and tired of looking at these beads!" Darcy yelled, doing the same with a beautiful set of silver beads, "I don't care what happens to them!" The they left the room. The pixies squeezed out of the hole and flew quietly down to where the sash was.
"Oh, this is so soft." Lockette replied, feeling the sash on her cheek.
"We have to be careful, Lockette, we don't want to get caught." Digit warned, they both rolled themselves up in the sash and rolled back to the hole in the wall. Then they pulled the sash into the hole. Once they were done that, they had to go back to get the beads. Lockette ran toward the beads and wrapped them around her, then she ran back toward the hole, but when she stopped, the bead necklace broke, so Digit went and helped Lockette pick up all the beads, and they hopped back into the hole before being seen.