Disclaimer: All recognizable story characters do not belong to me.

The Little Fairy

Chapter 9

Stone

Vidia dived flat on the floor, then rolled to her feet. Whirling around, she grabbed a chair and hurled it at Nataly, who was knocked to the ground. Nataly jumped from the ground in a fancy way that surprised Vidia, but she kept her head. She punched Nataly in the face, then crouched to the ground and kicked out in a circle in a heel-kick, knocking Nataly down again.

Nataly's head slammed into the wall, and Vidia stayed at the ready for a few moments, just in case she was still conscious, but she didn't seem to be. Vidia stepped forward.

"Nataly?" she said, cautiously.

No response.

"I really didn't want to hurt you." Vidia said, aloud, and walked over to make sure that she was all right. She noticed the ring on the floor and carefully stepped around it. She knelt by Nataly and picked up a wrist to feel for a pulse only to be kneed in the shoulder and knocked on her back. Nataly was kneeling next to her with her hands around her throat.

Vidia's hands instinctively went to Nataly's hands, but after a moment she realized she wouldn't be able to pry them off. She tore part of a feather off her outfit and used it as a cloth to pick up the ring that Cassie had dropped earlier.

She heard something slamming into the door but she could see that the bar was holding well. She gripped the feather and ring more tightly, and tried to hit Nataly in the temple. Nataly was far faster though, and blocked her arm. Vidia's fingers slipped from the cloth and the ring landed harmlessly on Nataly's arm.

Nataly stiffened, letting go of Vidia's neck. Vidia pushed her off and scrambled away just as Nataly fell and landed on her face on the floor.

The ring rolled away, then flipped over with a clang. Vidia climbed to her feet, leaning on the table for balance. She stumbled to the door and pulled the bar out. Tinkerbell and Fawn stepped inside and Vidia got a glimpse of a large mechanical machine that Tinkerbell had been trying to use to get inside.

"Vidia, are you okay?" Tinkerbell asked, worried.

"I'm fine." Vidia said, panted, trying to catch her breath. "Is she? Don't touch any - rings or rocks, by the – way."

"Okay." Tinkerbell replied.

"We've been worried about you." Fawn said. "We've been searching ever since you disappeared."

"Oh – um . . ." Vidia frowned. "I was kidnapped -" Vidia only then realized that she had a bloody nose and that her bruises were starting to get sore.

"We found Araminta." Tinkerbell said. "She told us what happened. Is this Cassie?"

"No, this is Nataly, her guard. That's Cassie." Vidia pointed. As if on cue, Cassie blinked and sat up.

She glanced at Nataly, and at the ring beside her. "The ring neutralized itself!" she said, mournfully. "Nataly will go back to who she was. That's too bad. I've lost the best bodyguard I ever had." she sniffed.

"Will Nataly be okay?" Vidia asked.

"I expect that she'll wake up in a few hours and have no idea what happened to her." Cassie said, mournfully. "I'll have to use the ring on someone else. But they'll never replace her."

"You're deluded if you think Queen Clarion will ever let you use that ring again." Fawn exclaimed. "I don't think you'll ever have another bodyguard."

"You can't stop me. I'm a free fairy." Cassie lifted her chin.

"We'll take you to Pixie Hollow." Tinkerbell decided, "She'll know what to do with you."

Cassie looked horrified. "Vidia – you and Jacquie are going to regret -" Cassie began.

"Jacquie!" Vidia breathed, then sprinted outside, dropping to her knees next to the limp fairy. "Jacquie? Jacquie. Jacquie, wake up. Jacquie. Jacquie!"

"It's no use, Vidia." Fawn said, gravely. "She's dying. I don't think we can stop it."

"What's hurting her?" Tinkerbell asked.

"She touched that ring." Vidia answered. "It's the ring of Dispel. It draws magic and enchantment from anything it touches. A fairy can't survive without their magic."

Cassie came out of the house, and Vidia turned on her. "How can we save her? How?"

"You can't do anything for her." Cassie said, calmly.

"How has she survived for so long?"

"The ring of Dispel takes the magic away slowly. Spells and enchantments aren't completely taken away for several minutes. The magic of a fairy is more than that, but she has only minutes, I would say."

Vidia ran into the house and up the steps into the round room. She turned in a circle in the center. The rings were all in shell boxes, but the rocks were just sitting on the shelves.

"Vidia, are these her enchanted stones?" Tinkerbell asked.

"Yes. Ah – there!" Vidia ran to a shelf with two black stones on it. "I recognize these. One is the Cintamani stone and the other is the Sessho-seki stone."

"So what do they do?" Fawn inquired.

"The Cintamani stone grants wishes. The Sessho-seks stone kills anyone who touches it.

"Which one's the Cinnamon stone, and which is the Sesshi-seko stone?" Tinkerbell spoke up.

Vidia shook her head. "I don't know."

"Fawn, get Cassie. She'll know which one is which." Tinkerbell said.

"Righto." Fawn flew out to get Cassie, and only a moment later walked her in.

"Which one is the Cintamani stone?" Fawn asked.

Cassie shrugged. "I don't know. Araminta wouldn't let me have her book of enchanted objects. She probably thought that I'd use them to kill people. It would have been kinder to kill Jacquie with that one, thought." Cassie finished thoughtfully.

"You haven't tried either of them?" Vidia checked, dismayed.

"Of course not. I might have died!" Cassie exclaimed.

Vidia exhaled loudly, turning away. "We don't have time to find an ant or something to check it on."

"Hey!" Fawn exclaimed, angry.
"Jacquie's going to die." Vidia said, turning. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"Any magic that you do on her will be undone within a minute and she'll start fading again." Cassie said. "You can't save her. How is that so hard for you to understand?"

"I can save her." Vidia argued. "What if I don't wish for her magic to come back? What if I wish for her to become something that doesn't need magic to survive?"

Tinkerbell opened her mouth slightly, understanding.

"What if I turn her human?" Vidia finished. "Won't that work?"

"I don't know." Cassie shook her head.

"I've got to try." Vidia turned back to the shelf.

"That's stupid. You're going to die doing something that may not work." Cassie pointed out. "That's stupid."

Vidia ignored her and tried to remember which stone was which.

"Vidia." Tinkerbell put an arm on her shoulder. "Let me wish."
"It isn't just wishing, Tink." Vidia said. "It's your greatest desire. Right now, mine is for Jacquie to become a human and live. You don't know her. You can't really desire that. You don't understand how completely in love she was and how completely stupid she was about it. It has to be me."

"Let me." Fawn said, from her other side. "At least if I wish for something you'll know which stone is which."

Tinkerbell shook her head. "No, Fawn, I won't let you do that."

"I can't let you do it, Tink." Fawn said, earnestly.

"Fawn -"

"Tink -"

Vidia reached out and picked up a stone, wishing with all her heart.

"No!"

"Vidia, don't!"