"I hate the stares. I really do..." Helen muttered as she, Diaspro and Zinah walked through London Heathrow airport.
"Ignore them, just... ignore them. They can't stare at you forever." Diaspro said.
"I know, but it just feels odd them looking at you like that- and not for a good thing..." Zinah shuddered.
"Things like this don't happen often. A fairy friend rescuing her other magical friends from a revenge-bent man, flying through Central London during peak hours to do so, followed by a procession of law enforcement vehicles... It must have been quite the spectacle to them, I expect..." Diaspro said.
"I don't like being a spectacle." Zinah pouted.
"Strange. I thought you did. Remember our first year at Uni when they had that performance of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves? You stole the show as Marjaneh!" Helen exclaimed.
"But that was fun! Getting kidnapped was not fun!"
"Good point..."
"Well at least we can hide out in the Club World lounge until the flight leaves, right?" Diaspro said as they cleared security and eventually entered the British Airways waiting area for their Club World passengers.
"True that. I've never flown anything other than Economy Class before. It's going to be a fun experience, this flight..." Helen smiled as she sunk into a chair.
"Me either. Mum and dad never saw the point in flying First Class with a bunch of children and I agree. I wouldn't want a bunch of noisy children up in First Class with me... They only flew First Class when they were travelling by themselves..." Zinah reached into her laptop bag for her Kindle.
"Well I know what First Class treatment is like already, but not here on Earth. It's nice to experience a little luxury again..." Diaspro smiled and relaxed into her lounge seat next to Zinah's.
"Yep. We'll just relax here until our flight to Chicago and then we have to get up again and connect to Los Angeles... Why couldn't we fly straight to Los Angeles this time I don't know. Plus we're actually driving up to Gardenia for more than three hours right after all that instead of flying again..." Helen looked around for a moment before getting up to go to the bar.
Zinah looked over the edge of her Kindle at Diaspro and adjusted her new, light blue, oval-shaped glasses that she'd finally gotten to replace the ones she'd lost after being kidnapped.
"Hey, um... Diaspro, what is Queen Nebula like?" She asked.
"Well, she's everything you'd picture a fairy queen to be. Beautiful, graceful, articulate, self-assured, powerful..."
"She sounds rather intimidating..." Zinah looked worried.
"I always thought of myself with those characteristics when I still had my titles, but I paled in comparison to her. You'll have some more time to prepare when we get to Gardenia since we're not going to meet her personally until a day after we get there, at least..." Diaspro said.
"But that's not much time! How do you behave when you're going to meet a queen? Furthermore a fairy queen?"
"It's not like you and Helen are completely uncultured. You both know the rules of regular etiquette, I taught you as much magical etiquette as I could, we all have some appropriate outfits lined up to meet her in style... You don't have to worry. Both of you will be fine." Diaspro reassured her.
"You know what you're talking about, so I guess I'll take your reassurances to calm down the nervousness bubbling in me- for now..." Zinah glanced over at Helen at the bar, enjoying a glass of wine.
"I think I'll join her and get a snack..." Zinah put away her Kindle and got up.
"Wait... You're going to the bar for a snack? What about your aversion to alcohol?" Diaspro raised an eyebrow.
"Doesn't mean I have to drink alcohol. In an airport lounge this fancy, they're bound to have variety, aren't they?" Zinah said.
"True... Plus I could do with seeing what in here is all about besides just sitting here. I think I'll join you..." Diaspro got up and joined her friends at the bar.
"Gardenia, California. When we last came here, the magical presence wasn't as obvious as it is now..." Diaspro said as she, Helen and Zinah walked around.
"Hey, isn't this the place you said that that Bloom person lived in before she went off to Magix?" Helen asked.
"It is. I just hope that she doesn't decide to pay a visit while I'm out here. I would rather not have to deal with her again. I may have moved on, but I don't know about her. I've always thought of her as rather... hot-headed and she tends to rush into situations head-on. My first meeting with her certainly didn't help matters. She left scorch marks in my glorious hair!" Diaspro ran her fingers through it.
"But didn't she help to rescue you from kidnappers too?" Zinah raised an eyebrow.
"That merely proves that she isn't all bad, but it doesn't mean that she's all good either. Neither of us are. No one is, as a matter of fact. I'm not about to be friends with her or try to make amends."
"Eh. Whatever. You must know what's best for you..." Zinah shrugged.
"Anyway, I need to get something to eat. How about trying that sandwich shop over there?" Diaspro pointed to the small shop just a few metres away from them, with a steady flow of people going in and out.
"If so many people are going in there, the food must be somewhat decent at least! Let's go!" Zinah led the way over.
They made their way over to the ordering line and stood chatting idly as they perused the menu.
Once they reached the front of the line, they were greeted by a smiling petite girl with curly shoulder-length brown hair and a slight tan.
"Hi! Welcome! What would you like to order?" She asked.
"I want the meatball sub- with extra cheese, bacon, onions, mayo and hot sauce, Red wants the teriyaki chicken with lettuce and tomato and Blondie wants to try the grilled fish with extra lettuce, tomato and corn. Eating in." Zinah said, making her friends glare at her and the cashier giggle.
"Coming right up..." She took Zinah's credit card and rang up the order.
"Say... What kind of magic do you have, if you don't mind my asking? I'm new to magic, but I can tell that you have magic and it doesn't feel like fairy magic..." She asked, looking at Zinah quizzically.
"Oh, because I'm not a fairy. I'm a witch. My two friends here are fairies though." Zinah gestured to them, who were standing by watching their exchange curiously.
"Okay! I've never met a witch before! I'm a fairy and I'm always around other fairies! I'm Kristina! I'll go sort out your order now..." Kristina bustled into the kitchen and came back out less than five minutes later with their order.
"We'll be seeing you around I suppose. We have business with Queen Nebula at the Institute of Magic..." Zinah and friends took the sandwiches and quickly found a table.
"Okay, Zinah. Red and Blondie? Really now?" Diaspro raised an eyebrow.
"Never mind that! Zinah, where are you going to fit all of that food?" Helen looked in disgust at the dripping mess that was Zinah's meatball sub as she massacred it.
"Mmph- never mind my food! I'm hungry!" Zinah spoke with her mouth full and Diaspro joined Helen in looking disgusted.
"Please don't eat like that around Queen Nebula. Just... don't..." Diaspro paused between bites of her sandwich.
"No worries. I remembered everything you taught us. I still feel a little nervous about it, but not as much now..." Zinah wiped her mouth with her napkins and reclined in her chair slightly as she waited for her friends to finish.
"You greedy, greedy pig." Helen half-joked as they left the sandwich shop and headed back to their hotel.
"Hey, growing up with a father who runs a restaurant, you learn to love and appreciate food. Hell, my niece Shadiyah is only four and she's shaping up to be a little chef already..." Zinah said.
"Oh, you have a niece? Which of your brothers does she belong to?" Diaspro asked.
"Jamal and his wife Bahira. I also have a nephew from them- Tamir. He's not quite a year old so who knows?" Zinah shrugged. "Nazim and his wife Aaliyah are expecting, Amir is engaged and Khalid is in a steady relationship. The family gatherings are pretty interesting when all of them are there..." She continued as they walked through the doors of the hotel.
"I can only imagine. I have no siblings myself but I do have a few cousins on both sides of my family. To tell you about all of the mischief they can get up to would keep us here until our hair turns grey..." Helen said as they took the lift.
"I had a sister myself. Reina. I have no idea how she is or what she's doing now since I never bothered keeping up with Isisian news since I left that planet." Diaspro opened the door to their room.
"Wow..." Zinah and Helen said in unison.
"But... as lovely as that family chat session was fun, we have a very important meeting to get ready for tomorrow..." Diaspro leaned against a wall.
"Well then, any last minute pointers?" Helen asked.
"A few. You're both fine so there's not much else I can advise you on. You don't have to worry! Just a quick revision of magical etiquette and we'll call it a day and go relax!" Diaspro conjured up a giant book on the topic and began pointing out a few things in it to her friends.
"This is it..." Diaspro said as they entered the Institute of Magic.
Zinah and Helen looked around in silent awe at the goings on.
Magical and non-magical beings were already working together in this place, it looked like a city inside a building...
Magic was amazing...
"At least we look good, right?" Helen joked.
"Of course you do. I picked the looks for us, didn't I?" Diaspro smirked.
"Did a decent job of it too. Especially with my hair. If only magic can help tame it, then you know how hard it was to take care of that mess before I developed my own magic..." Zinah ran her fingers through her hair.
Diaspro's hair was straightened and pulled into a ponytail with a black butterfly clip and she donned a dark grey pantsuit with black heels.
Helen's hair was curly and just past her ears and she wore a cream-coloured skirt suit with matching heels, while Zinah's hair was straight once again and held back with a dark green headband. She also wore a long-sleeved white blouse, dark green knee-length pencil skirt and flat dark green open-toed shoes.
"And here we are at security..." Diaspro made idle chat with the fairies on duty there that day and they moved quickly though after being scanned and receiving their visitor's passes.
Diaspro chuckled at her friends' expressions when they reached Tir Nan Og.
"This place is even more gorgeous than I ever imagined! It looks like something I dreamed about as a little girl!" Helen squealed.
"Not me! I wanted to be a superhero when I was little. This place is still beautiful though!" Zinah said as they walked up the long flight of stairs to where they were to meet Queen Nebula.
"This is really it, ladies. We get to find out what Queen Nebula wants with us now..." Diaspro said as they were escorted into Queen Nebula's throne room.
"Your Majesty..." Diaspro bowed to Queen Nebula who was sitting in her throne in her human form and her friends followed her lead, standing slightly behind her.
"All three of you, rise. It is good to see you again, Diaspro. And this time you've brought your friends with you as I requested..." Nebula looked at Zinah and Helen, who were both hiding their nervousness well.
"Yes, indeed. I present Helen Howell, Fairy of Illusions and Zinah Omrani, Witch of Metal." Diaspro gestured to each as she spoke.
"Good. I want to discuss some important business with all three of you. Please, follow me over here..." Nebula rose from her throne slowly and led them into a side room that looked like a boardroom with its long table surrounded by chairs in the middle of it.
"Sit." Nebula sat at the head of the table, with Diaspro sitting at her right and Helen and Zinah sitting at her left.
"You all know about magic returning to Earth and we have a lot of issues coming up because of that. There are so many angles to be considered, so much work to be done... All three of you are going to be offered jobs in it to help us."
Helen and Zinah sat up even straighter. "Your Majesty, we can understand Diaspro, but why us? We're so inexperienced in magic compared to her..." Helen asked.
"Ah, but both of you fit job requirements that I and others are looking for. Helen, you and Zinah both have degrees in Media Studies and Sociology, don't you?" Nebula asked.
Helen nodded. "With First Class honours, Your Majesty."
"Indeed. We have a public image to maintain. The skills you learnt in that programme would help greatly in a role in administration, public relations and outreach. That and combined with the fact that you are a fairy yourself would be very helpful for us here in Tir Nan Og. You are the only fairy discovered so far that has a complete university education..."
"You want me... to work for you?" Helen said in disbelief.
"Indeed I do. This would be a well paying job, you could study magic in the school section when you are not working... You would have to move here for that however. I know it's a big decision to make, but I want you to consider it carefully." Nebula left Helen sitting there in shocked silence.
"As for you, Zinah, I know you have the same skills from your degree, but as a witch, I have another offer for you. Or rather, someone else does and I want to recommend you for it..." Nebula turned her attention to Zinah.
"Who would want me?" Zinah asked.
"You see, Zinah, as you would have guessed, fairies are not the only magical beings gaining magic here on Earth. Witches are going to start popping up more frequently. Due to the fact that we are a different type of being, they might not feel as comfortable with us as they would with a witch. But they too are going to need help. Professor Griffin of the Cloud Tower School for Witches in Magix reached out to me. She wants me to find an Earth witch to help a group that she and some other witches in the Magix Dimension nominated to send here to scout out and help the new witches. You are around the right age, you are finished with your Earthling education... I am going to suggest you to her..." Nebula said.
"Wow. I finally get to meet other witches? That would be so cool!" Zinah exclaimed excitedly. "Diaspro and Helen are my friends and all, but they can only do so much to help me with my magic since they're fairies..."
"True. A fairy's magic can only go so far with a witch's magic. I want you to go there to meet them a few days after you get back to England. It will require a lot of travel as well, so this is another decision not to be taken lightly." Nebula watched as Zinah nodded.
"As for you, Diaspro... You know all the Earth Fairies are busy with some aspect or another with the magic returning, yet we need to establish relations with the other realms. I want you to be a diplomat for us between Tir Nan Og and Magix- at least for a year or so until we can get some semblance of order here and I pick a more suitable candidate to go forward to represent us."
Diaspro looked shocked. "Me, Your Majesty? I intend no disrespect towards you, but do you really think it wise to allow me to be the diplomat? Everyone there knows what I did, aligning myself with Valtor. A villain that tried to take over the magical dimension and caused so much damage there! He attacked the Crown Princess of Andros and blinded her, almost obliterated Andros even if indirectly by destabilizing the only physical entrance to the Omega Dimension there, allowed me to take mind control of the Crown Prince of Eraklyon, facilitated others to do the same to the King of Solaria, attacked the three magical schools... The list goes on... I can't imagine they'd take favourably to me..."
"Believe me, I took all of that into consideration when I considered you. However, you are the only one here up to date on matters there. You used to be a Crown Princess there so you are already familiar with procedure, plus unlike me and the other older Earth Fairies you were not locked away in a hidden dimension for several years and thus are the most... "caught up" of us all when it pertains to events in the Magical Dimension..." Nebula pointed out.
"That's true, but there's also the point that I'm not Earth-born. Aren't those sorts of jobs usually reserved for people born in that planet? I know for certain that Isis has never had a foreign born diplomat representing them..." Diaspro said.
"My magic bound you to this planet, Diaspro, so you are as close to that as you could get. Besides, aren't you a full-fledged Believix fairy now? The sacrifices that you made to save your friends would have qualified you for Enchantix yourself..."
Diaspro just looked completely befuddled at this point. "But... I'm not Earth born. Magic binding me to this planet or not, how would I have been able to earn Enchantix by saving Helen and Zinah? Don't the rules of magic say that you must save someone from your birth world?"
"That is true, but always remember that nothing in magic is constant, Diaspro. There are as many loopholes in magic as there are in diplomatic contracts, Diaspro, remember that. Haven't you tried to use the Zoomix, Speedix or Tracix wings yet?" Nebula asked.
"I haven't actually since I had no idea that I could." She glanced at her friends who were watching the conversation between herself and the fairy monarch with rapt attention.
"May I try?" She asked after a few moments of consideration.
"Certainly..." Nebula gestured for her to go ahead.
Diaspro transformed into Believix mode and after flapping her default wings slightly for a moment focused on calling up her Speedix wings.
No one was more shocked than she was when her default wings changed into the Speedix wings.
"I told you so, Diaspro. The laws of magic can have some exceptions. Not all of them have been discovered and I don't think they ever will be, but there's one you've discovered today for yourself." Nebula smirked.
Diaspro flew the length of the room on her Speedix wings, buzzed over both Helen's and Zinah's heads, causing them to duck down in fright and returned to her seat next to Nebula, where she promptly resumed her human form.
"I still can't believe it. My... sacrifice for Helen and Zinah allowed me to unlock my full fairy potential. Maybe that means like some tales told, I should be able to shift between my different fairy forms if I wanted to. Including my Enchantix, which I've never actually seen..."
"Indeed you should. I advise you to go see Fabula in the library of the school section. As chief librarian, she should help you find and recommend texts that will suit your needs. A job rather suited to her power source, might I add..." Nebula recommended.
"I will, Your Majesty." Diaspro nodded
"You should take your friends with you as well. Also, I'd like you to return to Tir Nan Og in three days with your decisions. I know it's a short time for that, considering the magnitude of the decisions that are to be made, but a lot of people are running on deadlines and restrictions, you see..."
"We understand that, Your Majesty..." Helen finally spoke again.
"We shall return with our answers in three days' time as you requested, Queen Nebula..." Zinah spoke as well.
Nebula smiled. "Good. You can take your leave now. Go and relax a bit before making your decisions. Do something fun. Maybe even stop by my brother in law's Fruitti Tuitti Music Bar. The drinks there are absolutely fabulous." Nebula chuckled lightly.
Diaspro smiled back. "Thank you for the recommendation Your Majesty. We will be taking our leave now..." She and her friends bowed slightly before they left the room.
"That was some heavy stuff that Queen Nebula threw at us there..." Helen said as she stirred her drink idly.
They had indeed followed Nebula's recommendation that they stop by at the Fruitti Tuitti Music Bar and so far they were enjoying themselves there.
"I know, but for me personally, I'm inclined to accept. It would give me the chance to meet other witches, learn real witch magic and travel- which is something I've wanted to do since forever..." Zinah said.
"Me... I don't know. I know it's been a while, but I don't know if I should step back into Magix without disguises like I did since my banishment. It's not something to be taken lightly. I know magical politics very well and this is going to be like navigating a minefield in heels higher than Crown Princess Stella of Solaria's..." Diaspro sipped her drink.
"I think you could handle it. You're tough and you don't back down from danger if you think there's something more important at stake, as you proved when did what you felt you had to in order to save our lives..." Helen smiled at her friend and Zinah nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence you two. But there's also one more person I want an opinion from before I decide..." Diaspro said, smiling slightly at the thought of Anthony.
"Aha! You're thinking about Anthony, aren't you?" Helen teased. "I'm glad I introduced you two. You really hit it off..."
"Indeed they did, Helen. When's the wedding? I want to know what date to write in my little black book. Plus I need to find suitable clothing. I may not be as into fashion as she is, but I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me showing up at the wedding shoddily dressed!" Zinah giggled.
"Knock it off, you two clowns." Diaspro half-muttered, half-smiled. "Besides, you two need to go find some men for yourselves and stop teasing me about mine!"
After a few jokes and tales about the opposite sex, the conversation eventually turned back to the decisions they would be expected to make soon.
"So, I've told you everything I can. What do you think?" Diaspro stretched out on her bed in the hotel room she shared with Helen and Zinah talking on the hotel landline to Anthony.
"I... I think if you really want to do it, you should. Like you said, you would be doing a great service for Queen Nebula if you accepted and it never hurts to gain favour with her, does it?"
"I know it does, but considering my past, it's not going to be an easy thing to do, Anthony. Plus the chances are pretty much inevitable that I'll encounter Bloom again if I accept that role. You know I'm not afraid of her, but I'd rather not have to see her mug again if I can help it..."
"Hey, Diaspro. Didn't you tell me that you were quite the imposing figure when you lived on Isis as royalty? And enjoyed that? Why forget what you learned there now? I am sure you will be fine. Plus you're the same fairy that flew through Central London like a madwoman trying to rescue her kidnapped friends from a bunch of revenge driven gunmen and narrowly saved them from becoming Swiss Cheese..."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Anthony. I am personally endorsed by Queen Nebula herself so they can't do anything to me- legally, that is. Plus it would give me the chance to set tongues wagging there and confound the paparazzi- which I always enjoyed doing, the pests..." Diaspro grumbled, making Anthony laugh.
"So is your mind made up then?" Anthony asked her.
"I think so. No, wait. I know so. I'm going to accept. I am Diaspro, the former Crown Princess of Isis. Despite me losing that station through my own fault, I'm not about to let a bunch of cretins and pretentious people scare me. I think that when it comes to baring the claws and playing dirty, I think they'll find that I'm still more than up to that task." Diaspro smirked.
"That's my lady! I'll hear you before you come back across the pond then..."
"You most certainly will. Bye, dear." Diaspro smiled as she hung up the phone.
She was going to enjoy this.
Magix would never know what hit them.
