Carlos and Catania looked at each other mystified.
"Now I feel aweful." Catania whispered "I... never really thought about her having a family."
"Me either." Carlos answered.
The Jellyfish nodded and swam over to the mirror "Show the answer to her past. Let her see what she never has."
Smoke began to swirl inside the mirror, when it faded, it showed a young golden haired, brown eyed fairy working over something, her face set in determination.
"Definitely your mother." Carlos mumbled.
The fairy in the mirror picked up a flower that looked like the Flutterfield lights and smiled "Perfect."
A knock sounded on the door behind her "Rose? Can I come in?"
Carlos's eyebrows lurched "That sounds like..."
"Come on in." Rose answered.
The door opened and Marabella flew in "How's it going?"
"I think we may have a solution." Rose said with a smile "Try it."
Marabella nodded and picked up the flower. A few seconds later, it lit up.
"We did it!" Rose laughed "We actually did it!"
Marabella looked at the light "It's beautiful. Do you think it will work?"
"We've hung thousands of them up all over Flutterfield. It should be enough the keep the Skeezites out." Rose smiled sadly "If only we'd discovered it before our... you know."
Marabella sat the flower down "I know. Where is she anyways?"
A small laugh sounded from somewhere in the room. Rose smiled and walked over to a small cradle that was against the wall "Good morning, my little Butterfly!" She reached into the small bed and lifted a small child with sparkling hot pink wings out.
Catania's eyes widened "That has to be you! You are soooo cute!"
Mariposa stared at the image as she bit her lip. What had happened to her parents?
"She is so precious!." Marabella said, looking down at the child "It's so hard to think that her father was eaten by the skeezites."
"That will never happen again after tonight." Rose said "By the way. Where's..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a two year old boy shot out from under one of the tables.
"Carlos." She finished with a laugh.
Catania and Mariposa both burst out laughing at the sight of the young brown haired boy.
Carlos smiled nervously "Great."
The young prince walked over to Rose and looked up at her then attempted to fly up to see the child in her arms. His wings flapped as fast as they could, but only resulted in getting him about three inches off the ground. He grunted then jumped, and once again flapped his wings as hard and fast as he could. This time, he managed to make it up enough to see infant.
"Oooh!" He said with a toothy grin, then he looked up at Rose "Purty!" he forgot to keep flying and fell right back to the floor.
Once again, Mariposa and Catania doubled over in laughter.
Carlos shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets "I'm like two!"
Mariposa glanced at him, her eyes sparkling. But he did notice that her cheeks had taken on a rosey color.
Rose sat her daughter down on the floor and Carlos immediately sat in front of her and smiled.
"I'll take these last few and put them up, just as extra security." she said, grabbing an armload of the flowers "We'll see how it goes."
"Be careful." Marabella warned "Please."
"I will." Rose said, picking her daughter up "I'll see you tomorrow."
Marabella grabbed Carlos and followed Rose out the door "Alright. I hope this works."
"I'm sure it will."
The two said their goodbys, then Rose flew off.
"I can't believe your mother helped create the lights!" Catania said "That's amazing."
Mariposa continued to stare at the mirror "I... don't thinks it's over yet."
Rose flew across flutterfield, greeting a few people as she went. Whenever someone asked about the flowers she'd been hanging, she'd just smile and wink "You shall see."
After a bit, she reached the border of the kingdom and hung the last light "Now to go home." she said.
Just then, a skeezite flew at her "Butterfly fairy!"
Rose gasped "They're early!" she spun around and flew off as quick as she could, clutching her baby to her chest.
Several more skeezites appeared "Hungry!" they mumbled "Butterfly fairy!"
Rose's heart was in her throat as she dodged through trees, trying to escape the monsters following behind "It's no use." she realized as she quickly dove towards the ground. She ducked behind a tree and listened as the skeezites flew past "Good bye sweetheart." she whispered. Then she placed the baby inside a hole in the tree.
"There's the fairy!" A skeezite said.
Rose quickly rose back into the air and flew away, the skeezites right behind, never to seem again.
Mariposa shook her head slowly "I..."
Carlos and Catania both placed a hand on her shoulder.
"She died by the very thing she was trying to protects us from." Carlos said quietly "I'm sorry."
"But... what happened to Mariposa after that?" Catania asked.
The Jellyfish nodded slightly and the image in the mirror changed.
Skeezites were invading the kingdom, fairies were flying for their lives.
And old couple were hurrying towards their house, so far managing to stay out of sight, when the lady grabbed her husband's arm "Listen."
They both stopped.
A second later the sound of a baby's cry reached their ears.
"There's a child out here!" the lady gasped "But where and why?"
"Go on home." the man instructed "I'll see if I can find it."
Mariposa sighed "This part I know."
The old fairy followed the sound, being sure to stay under leaves and flowers as he went. Then he saw her.
A small girl about one year old sitting on the ground looking lost and scared.
"Hey look at that!" A skeezite shouted "An appetizer!"
The man looked up to see a band of skeezites heading straight for the baby "Oh no." he shot from his cover of the plants and snatched the child from the ground, then he took off for his home as fast as his old wings would allow.
"Hey! Our dinner stole our snack!" One of the creatures shouted.
"Is that possible?" Another asked.
The man could feel the skeezite's breath on his heels as he flew for home. He didn't dare breath a sigh of relief when his house came into view.
His wife was standing in the doorway waving to him.
As soon as he was in the door, she slammed it shut.
A THUD followed as the beasts rammed into their walls.
"Aw man!" A skeezite whined "Hey come out! We just want to eat you."
The couple let out large huffs of air and relaxed.
"I think I just ages ten more years." the older man teased.
The woman smiled and looked at the child in his arms "Oh my!"
The man smiled "I don't think she was abandoned." he said sadly "I think her mother didn't hide fast enough."
"Surely she's got a parent somewhere." The lady said "We'll wait and see if someone starts looking for her."
All of the sudden, light started filling in the windows.
"LIGHT!" The skeezites shouted as they tried to escape "Get me out of here."
The couple looked at each other and slowly opened their door. Other fairies were starting to come out of hiding to find out what was going on.
Marabella was flying between some lights smiling "The skeezites will never bother us again." she announced, then she looked around trying to spot her friend, but Rose was nowhere in sight.
Marabella sighed and shook her head "As long as I live, these lights will forever glow!"
Everyone began to cheer, glad that the threat was finally over.
The old couple looked at each other and grinned.
The young girl started giggling and clapping her hands.
"She's so precious." The lady said "Like a Butterfly."
The man nodded "Just like a little Mariposa."
"And that's how I got my name." Mariposa added "They died eleven years later, when I was twelve. That's when I started working for Raina and Rayla." she chuckled slightly "They're also the reason I love to read."
"Without showing us," Catania said to the Jellyfish "Can you tell us what exactly happened to Rose?"
The Jellyfish looked down at it's tenticles "As assumed. She didn't escape the skeezites."
Mariposa nodded slowly "Thank you." then she turned and swam towards the exit of the cave, the other two following.
Queen Marabella watched as another set of lights went out "Please make it in time." she sighed and shook her head "I wonder if this would be happening if you were still here, Rose. You were the main source that kept these lights glowing."
(You will find out more about Mariposa's mother as the story progresses. I hope you enjoy! Laterz!)