The Science of Going Away: Lysis's Story

It was ten months after Roxy and I left Gardenia, and since then we had picked up seven other fairies, and rescued even more than seven. And though the longer and longer it was since the Magical Renaissance began, the more fairies emerged- Roxy and I decided that we all deserved a vacation. After all, it was a lot of work, what we were doing.

Our vacation was almost ironic, however. Most people on vacation went somewhere to relax. Our idea of a vacation was more about heading home to Gardenia, staying at the Institute of Magic, taking a break from active fairy-finding, but still planning things out.

"So, fairies are now kind of spiraling out from the Tir Nan Og gateway," said Arcadia, fairy of video games and close friend of Nebula, "which means you guys have to leave the continent at some point."

"But there are still a ton of fairies in the United States," Roxy argued.

"We could split up," Victoria (who was currently going by Vicki, though as she was infamous for switching nicknames, I didn't expect that to last long) suggested.

We were at a meeting of the fairy council, reporting on our status and making plans. Queen Nebula sat at the head of the table, with Morgana on her right and Roxy on her left. Secretaria, fairy of records, was there, as were Arcadia, Vicki, and I. Even Aurora, Diana, and Sibylla had journeyed to meet. I was happy that Sibylla had come- I needed to talk to her about Rider, and besides, she was the youngest of the major fairies, only thirty. She had been like an older sister to me when we were imprisoned.

Nebula leaned forward in her chair. "How would you split?"

With a wave of her hand and a silent spell, Vicki summoned a floating diagram. "Okay, so one adult on each team. It would make the most sense for Lysis to stay in the States, since I'm multilingual and she isn't." We all nodded. "I'll take Safeyah, since she speaks Greek, Russian, and Arabic. Lynn, because she speaks Irish. Nakisha, because she needs me to translate."

"Which leaves me with Avalon, Kaylee, Mia, and Roxy. Unless you want the extra person?" I asked.

"Well, Mia was telling me she's taken three years of Mandarin, but she's also kind of... missing."

The table immediately panicked. "What happened? Did the Apprentices kidnap her?" Nebula managed to ask.

"No. We did. Her dad's contacted the police. No way can we get her out of the country."

"Maybe you should take her home," Nebula said.

Roxy shook her head. "But we can't. Rider and the wizards have shown that they have the power to force fairies to give up their wings... they've almost completely unlocked the power of the Black Circle all over again. Even with Kaylee and Saf, Avalon almost managed to get her wings ripped off. Mia can't even transform yet; we haven't wanted to force it, because that would hurt her power. We can't leave her on her own until she transforms. At least Kristina is studying. Amanda can fight if she's in danger. And LeLe has fully unlocked her abilities, all she needs to do is train. But Mia's completely pre-Charmix."

"Are there any other kidnapped fairies?" Nebula said tiredly.

I shrugged. "Kristina's run away... but no, the others have gotten permission. Which is good for us. Easier."

Nebula sighed. "We'll meet about this again after Mia transforms... or if something happens. Maybe I can find a way to speak to her parents."

"Father only," I said. Nebula nodded and dismissed the council.

As soon as we walked out of the council room door, I was immediately bombarded by Avalon and Mia. "Ly!" the fairy of tools exclaimed. "You will never guess what."

"What?" I inquired.

"I got a text an hour ago from Amanda, asking if we were anywhere near NYC, because her school band is taking a class trip there this week and they have a couple nights free..."

"So I," Mia cut in, "said, 'hey, let's look at the fairy tracker and see if there's a fairy in New York. And there was!"

"So I called up LeLe, since Harrisburg isn't that far."

"And then Kristina was walking past when Avalon was calling LeLe and said that the sandwich shop she worked at was undergoing renovations and maybe she could temporarily join the team!"

"So all of us fairies that have been found so far could go party up in NYC for a couple days, find a new fairy, go shopping... it'd be fun!"

"Please, Lysis? Pretty pretty please with a strawberry on top?" Avalon looked at Mia, and the smaller girl shrugged. "What? I don't like cherries."

I sighed. "You looked at the fairy tracker? You went in my private bedroom so you could look at it? It's so delicate!"

Avalon waved it off. "It's fine. We were careful. No harm done. So, can we? I mean, it's better than us just staying here in Cali and watching reruns of Supernatural on the CW."

"I dunno. Supernatural is a good show," Mia said seriously.

"I thought you wanted to go to Byron and see your family," I mentioned.

"Yeah, but they're on their own vacation in Europe. Guess I should've called to mention I was coming."

I sighed. "If I say no, how many of you are likely to sneak off and go to NYC on your own?"

"Me and Mia. Maybe Lynn. Kaylee, if her urge to shop overrides her goody-two-shoes-ness. Maybe even Roxy. Roxy, you in?" I turned and looked at Roxy, behind me. She smiled and shrugged.

"Alright, alright!" I said, rolling my eyes. "We'll go. But when we're on the way... well, let's just say I've got some important news to share with the group. I'll do it on the road."

"Oh, they already know," Avalon said. "Saf planted a bug in the conference room and then relayed the news to everyone through mass text. She's excited to go back to Greece."

I facepalmed. Dealing with a bunch of teenage fairies was insane. I was almost happy we were splitting up.

Avalon suddenly grinned. "Ooh, we should make up team names. Shouldn't we?"

"Team names! AWESOME!" Mia exclaimed.

I shook my head and sighed once more.

Author's Note: One more chapter, then we'll see some fairies leave the continent! The current plan is to do one chapter with the international group, and then one with the US group... we'll just keep alternating. :)