As Colossus pulled himself free with a tug, he turned and grabbed Adeline in his arms. As she was a giggling mess, they heard footsteps approaching. They both saw Evander approaching with a soft smile.
"Adeline. I may have been a bit harsh on you. Now what you did was wrong and I want you to promise not to try anything that dangerous again. However, you can still be in the show." Evander grinned.
"Oh Evander I promise I won't! Thank you thank you!" she smiled in pure glee as she ran to him and hugged him tightly. Colossus grinned at how happy the young ringmaster made the young girl. After a few moments, she let him go.
"Now then…let's go. The show must go on. After that, we are on our way to another realm." Evander replied.
"And which realm is that?" Colossus asked.
"Oberon, the king of the fairies, wants us to come and visit him and perform for he and his family. He just got married," Evander replied, now leading the way to the tent.
Once they got to the tent, Adeline had the time of her life! She road on a Pegasus this time and everyone cheered as she twirled fire torches and threw her batons up and down in the air. All of them smiled and cheered for her and the performers! She was getting better and better!
"Evander? Did you assist her at all with any of those skills?" A centaur asked.
"No. I thought you gave her some of your energy in terms of riding," Evander replied.
"No. I did not." The centaur replied honestly.
"I did." A voice replied. Both turned and saw a griffin come into view. His name was Silverbeak. "To ensure she did not fall again, I gave her some of my energy to balance and ride properly. However, she has practiced the fire twirling from the firebreathers," Silverbeak smirked.
"She is definitely learning more isn't she," Evander smiled.
After a few minutes, they all ooed and awed as she then got on the high wire act. But she paused and began to sweat. There was another act that was happening a few feet away from her and it made her absolutely nervous. It was the mermaid act! Adeline was scared to death to swim in deep water. Shallow ponds were fine, but deep water made her scared because she almost drowned as a young girl.
"Focus Adeline," a voice said, snapping her back to her thoughts. She then glanced over and saw a griffin perched next to her. "This is the high wire act…you don't want to lose focus."
Adeline nodded and took a deep breath. She slowly began to cross over the tight rope and Silverbeak watched with his wings outspread in case he needed to assist her. But Adeline knew exactly what she was doing! She did a flip and wowed the crowd and then landed gracefully on the other side.
"Wonderful!" They cheered.
"Cirque Mystique! Cirque Mystique!" They roared happily.
"More! More!" they screamed happily.
Evander smiled happily as she got on the griffin's back and they landed back on the ground. She, Evander, and Silverbeak then took a bow, which led to even more loud cheering. Adeline closed her eyes and began to soak in the beautiful cheers once more and that made her smile even more.
"This is beautiful," she said to herself.
"When you are able to do things for people and make them smile?" Silverbeak smiled.
"Yes," she grinned back, now feeling the roar of the crowd.
"So what is going to happen now?" she asked.
"We prepare for the feast that they prepared for us and then we head to the fairy realm. After that, we will go to the griffin realm," Evander said, now leaning back. But as he and the others headed to the banquet room, he overheard Adeline speaking to one of the minotaurs.
"Are you happy to be joining us?" the minotaur asked.
"Yes! I was super scared at first, but I belong here. I would never belong on Earth. I belong with you all and I always will. In plus…I was nothing." She whispered the last part.
"Nothing?" the minotaur repeated and making Evander's pointed ears sharpen.
"Yes. I couldn't relate to anyone and I wasn't anything special. I wasn't pretty like the other girls and I wasn't good at sports either. I…was nothing." She said, now quickly walking forward and glancing in a crystal mirror. "But look at me now! I have butterfly wings, red beautiful hair, and beautiful pale skin! I'm finally beautiful!"
And with that, she giggled as she ran to catch up with the others, but that made Evander stop in his tracks.
"Is that really what Adeline thought of herself," he said to himself. "She thought of herself as nothing and the only way she will accept herself is if she changes herself?"
"That was not the purpose of her joining us." Colosuss said, now walking up next to him.
"I realize that, but something needs to change here. She cannot go on believing that she was nothing," Evander replied, now closing his eyes and feeling her energy through the stone on her head. The stone not only bound her to them, but it also revealed her past to them. Evander closed his eyes and went through every corridor of Adeline's mind. He saw the victories, the pain, and the discouragement she felt on Earth. He then opened his eyes and looked up at the beautiful blue sky.
"Perhaps…she does need to return to Earth," Evander said to himself.
"What do you mean?" Colossus said in concern.
"Colossus…I am enjoying Adeline as much as you, but there is something wrong here. She is happy to be with us now, but she is not accepting herself for who she really was." Evander replied. "She is thinking that being one of us is "better" than being who she was originally."
Colossus was about to say something, but stopped. He knew that Evander was right and something needed to change.
After the feast, Adeline and the others were settling down for the night in the sleeping quarters. As they did, Evander slowly closed his eyes and let Adeline's red hair and fair wings change. He made Adeline like she was before. She had her dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and her fairy wings became even more beautiful with shades of light and dark brown, and beautiful shades of white. Truth be told, she looked even more beautiful than before by just being herself. Evander grinned at his work and then closed his eyes as he crossed his legs Indian style and went to sleep himself.
The next morning…
"NO! NO PLEASE NO!" Adeline cried out, now seeing her reflection in the water. "Evander why?!"
"Adeline remain calm. There is no need to change yourself now. The danger has passed. Even though you still do look like a fairy," he smiled, now pointing to her pointed ears wings, and sparkly blue dress.
"But I don't want to just be me! I want to be the girl that I was! I was beautiful!" she said, now feeling tears. "I actually felt special Evander!"
"Adeline listen to me! No change or anything I can do can change who you really are! You are beautiful just being you and you always will be!" Evander said sternly, now gently taking her shoulders. "You are ALWAYS going to be beautiful because you are being who you were meant to be."
Adeline was going to argue, but she couldn't with the stern look Evander gave her. But all she could do was hang her head as he pulled her to him in a hug.
"Don't be afraid to be who you are Adeline. You are important and you are loved….never forget that." He whispered as he gently kissed her head. Adeline hugged him tightly and nodded, feeling somewhat better but still wishing she could go back to the way she was. But she knew that he was right…if she didn't try to accept herself the way she was originally, how could she ever learn to be confident?
But those thoughts could wait. She was heading to the fairy realm and the king Oberon was waiting on them! And as she entered into the realm, her eyes burst open! There were fairies everywhere! Many of them had wands and many of them were shapeshifters!
"F-Fairies are real?!" she gasped! "This is amazing! I thought they were only in my mythology books!"
"No they are very real indeed and definitely some of the most party-like of the realms," Shell giggled, now playfully poking Adeline.
"Welcome!" a voice boomed. Everyone turned and saw Oberon sitting on his throne and next to his new wife. He had lavender skin and white flowing hair. He was definitely a sight to see. "I am so pleased you all could make it to my celebration! Please! Enjoy the fruit and drink!"
And with a snap of his wrist, even more drinks and wine were placed on the table! Adeline gulped until Colossus nudged her.
"None for you young one." He smiled. Adeline only giggled and nodded back. But as she was putting on her performance make up, she didn't notice that Oberon was looking at her with an admiring look.
"Oh my! And who is that young human? She is no doubt paying us tribute due to dressing up like a fairy," the king crooned, now watching her closely as she twirled with Evander and prepared herself.
"Your highness! We are here to bring you the performance of a lifetime!" Evander called. Adeline grinned, now feeling a minotaur and centaur both place their heads against her stone. Once it began to glow, she smiled as she then picked up a very large rock and threw it up in the air.
"HARAN TRASMUTO!" She yelled and soon the entire rock blew up into beautiful glitter pieces that surrounded the room and shone bright like confetti! The fairies clapped happily and Oberon's eyes narrowed in admiration.
"How beautiful she is…especially for a human," he grinned, now smirking. His queen smirked because she knew what that look meant.
"Is the king pleased with the young human?" she asked.
"Yes…very much so," he whispered.
"And to begin! We will start with a little magic!" Adeline smiled, now twirling faster and faster until she disappeared. Evander did the same. Oberon's eyes widened slightly, now curious where they both went. After a few seconds, he looked and saw them both appear in a bright light right before his throne! Everyone flinched, except Oberon. He then let out a pleased laugh and clapped.
"Wonderful!" he boomed as the others clapped too. He then winked at Adeline and gently motioned her to come forward. "You are quite young human."
"H-Huh? Human? Uh…" she said, trying to pretend she didn't know what he meant.
"Oh you can't fool me little one. I know more about you than you think," he said, now looking at her harder. Within a second, he stood up and snapped his fingers and her wings disappeared, revealing she was a human! The other fairies gasped and began whispering, but Oberon held up a hand to silence them! He then turned to face the crowd. "If anyone speaks an ill word against her, I will personally send them to my torture chamber. This young human should be treated with respect at all times."
And with that, he waved a hand and returned her wings. Oberon then tilted her chin up and wiped a few embarrassed tears from her eyes with his thumbs.
"Do not be embarrassed. You are beautiful just the way you are Adeline," he said, giving her a smile. After a few minutes, the fairies began cheering and flying around Adeline, gently touching her and giving her praise.
"More Adeline!" a male fairy grinned.
"Yes, show us more Adeline!" another one grinned.
"Cirque Mystique! Cirque Mystique!" the crowed began to cheer. And with that the show continued even better than before. As Adeline turned to join her friends, she didn't see the king turn to his queen.
"Yes…I want her." He whispered.
"A new addition?" The queen giggled. He then wiggled his eyebrows at her and gave her a toothy smile.
"Of course." He smiled. "But….let's wait until the end of the performance."
The queen nodded and smiled. Oberon was never one to not get what he wanted. Never.
guestsurprise: Oh my! What do you think?
newbienovelistRD: Awesome, Amiga! :)