Chapter 4

Ceremony was a word used to describe a celebration, but what kind Artemis could not say. All she knew was that it got her companions and every other fairy she encountered pretty excited. She never got to be a part of a celebration before as the only one she ever witnessed was while being locked up in a cage. That was her first night as a fairy too.

Shivering at the memory, she almost lost her step because of it. Now that she had free will, she chose to block it out and continue on her way. Then, she was on the last mushroom and she walked into an amazing sight. Yellow light flowed like a beacon in the center of the Pixie Dust Tree as pixie dust flowed out of it just like Bobble had said. Looking around, she saw that fairies in all shapes and sizes were sitting around her, separated by respected talent she guessed. She caught the eyes of Bobble and Clank who both waved animatedly at her. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she found that it was Silvermist.

"We have to go sit in our spots, okay?" Silvermist says, with a worried expression.

Feeling uncertain by being left alone, Artemis could only manage to say "Okay" as a response.

"Don't worry sugar, we'll be right where you can see us." Rosetta states, seeing the fairies expression.

"Guys we need to get to our seats." Vidia ordered and she, along with the other fairies, flew off to sit with their companions.

Uncertainty flowed through Artemis as she stood alone amidst her own kind. This was the first time she had to face a large crowd without being locked in a cage. At least now she could run without being ridiculed behind bars. To calm herself down, she began looking at the familiar faces for reassurance. Waves and nods were given and when she got to where Vidia was sitting, she caught the eyes of the sparrowman known as Dash, who gave her a wink when he caught her looking his way. Then, a different light shown behind her and a warm voice came out of it.

"Born of laughter, clothed in cheer, happiness has brought you here! Welcome to Pixie Hollow." The voice came from a beautiful fairy that glowed just as brightly as the pixie dust and her voice made Artemis feel as if a summer sun was shining down on her.

Assuming that this was Queen Clarion, Artemis, with a small bow, formally said "Thank you, your majesty."

"There is no need to bow young one." Queen Clarion replies, giving a small chuckle as Artemis awkwardly stood back up. "Now, why don't you tell us about yourself." She continued, indicating the rest of the fairies.

Nervously clearing her throat, Artemis began to talk. "My name is Artemis, I've always known that I was a fairy, but had never understood what being a fairy meant until today. The only thing I know about myself is that I like to read and I was brought to life by pirates."

Gasps arose from across the tree as her words were taken in. Being brought to life by pirates was a thing they couldn't contemplate. It startled Artemis the moment the eruption of voices occurred and the only fairies who seemed to remain quite were of the fast flying talent. They were all giving her looks she couldn't contemplate and so she turned to Queen Clarion for reassurance.

"Everyone quiet down please! I know that this is shocking news, but please refrain from asking questions until Artemis feels comfortable enough to answer them." The Queen's voice boomed across the tree, silencing every fairy. "Now young one, how would you like to be able to fly?".

Too stunned by how the Queen managed to silence everyone, Artemis almost didn't hear what she said about flying. Letting those words sink in, she had to ponder over this possibility. She didn't know if being able to fly would make her feel complete and she knew that she was too different to be like the other fairies. So what difference would it be if she were to fly or not? She supposed it would make her feel more free and freedom was something she only had for a short while. With that thought in mind, she made her decision. Nodding as her answer, she was received with another one of those warm smiles from Queen Clarion.

Flying behind the new fairy, Queen Clarion began to use her magic to bring life to Artemis' wings. Looking behind her, for the first time Artemis was able to get a good look at them. Her wings had spirals and other patterns that were mesmerizing to her. Feeling them, she could tell that they were fragile but strong enough to withstand most things.

With a hand raised, Queen Clarion waited for the fairy to take it. Unsurely, Artemis took it and was then lifted in the air. Immediately her wings began to flutter and she let go of the Queen's hand once she was getting too high to hold on. Feeling confident in her new ability, she took off out of the tree. Her worries from earlier about being able to fly had melted away from her thoughts as for the first time in her entire life, she officially felt free.

Circling around the tree, Artemis then flew back to its center where everyone was waiting. Landing was a little bit more difficult to figure out, but she managed. Once on the ground, Queen Clarion gave her another warm smile and raised her hand. The tree began to glow underneath Artemis' feet and then mushrooms magically appeared around her. Then one fairy from each talent flew down with something in their hands. All of the female fairies that helped her throughout the day placed their items on their own mushrooms which then began to float in the air. Once done, they all flew back to their spots.

Artemis looked at the items with a mixture of fascination and confusion. Then it struck her that these items were used to help determine what her talent was. To see if she was correct, she turned to the Queen who gave her a small nod. Taking a deep breath, Artemis began circling the mushrooms. Each mushroom contained a unique item that dealt with an unique talent, the question was, which one was hers?

She continued her circling and then stopped in front of a large drop of water that was in a direct alignment of where the water talent fairies sat. Touching it, it immediately dropped onto the mushroom. She assumed it meant that wasn't her talent and went on her way. Stopping at a mushroom that held a leaf, she touched it too and it too fell. The items for light, garden, and tinker talents had the same result. Even though she liked Vidia, Artemis went past the spiral of wind that indicated the black haired fairy's talent as she knew it wasn't meant for her and if she wasn't quite sure if she could handle working alongside the group of sparrowmen that Dash was a part of.

Feeling discouraged, she then stopped at a mushroom that held an egg. Something inside her felt called to the egg as if it knew something she didn't. Carefully she picked up the egg and before she could contemplate what had just happened, a spiral of light erupted before her eyes. The light was brighter than anything she had ever seen and it flowed around her, almost as if it was trying to consume her. Then, the light began to fade and she was left with the plain looking egg in her hands as cheers erupted from the crowd behind her.

Author's Note: Whew my brain is fried from writing this, haha kidding. Again TinkFan4Life, I thank you for the awesome random review you sent for the last chapter, I'm still chuckling about it. Speaking of last chapter, a Guest on Fanfiction said that they'd like to see my chapters be a little longer, if that same guest is reading this, just know that I like to write about 1000-1500 words per chapter and once I'm done with this story, I may make a chapter or two as one chapter, but for now I am writing as long as I want these chapters to be. It just helps to let my creativity get out more smoothly. Anyways, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted but in the mean time, check out some other people's stories. I'm going to try recommending stories as I do think these other author's deserves more praise. Starting off with The Fairies of Hogwarts by 13bookworm, it's a story about Queen Clarion and Lord Milori as students of Hogwarts and it's a rather great read. 13bookworm is a great writer and she makes some pretty awesome stuff on her YouTube account Bookworm Studios where she had posted her trailers for her Fanfictions. So yeah, check her out and I'll update again as soon as I can. Take care now.