Tang Ri Shan
(Part 1 of the climax. Here we go!)
Tinkerbell: Curse of the Duskmoth
(I do not own Tinkerbell or any of the Disney Fairies. Enjoy!)
Chapter 19
"Hurry, Hurry!" Tinkerbell and Terence led the other sprites down the maze of tunnels, both of them carrying Vidia under their arms, who was softly groaning, her eyes closed, but they could see that her skin was beginning to change from gray back to pink. Her hair, which had been wild and stood out, was beginning to droop, and her wings were changing from purple back to gold.
"Erikel!" Fawn cried out as they burst into the chamber. "Something's happening to Tinkerbell!" Erikel, who was standing next to the Duskmoth, glanced up from the pool.
"What is it?" He asked, and the Duskmoth looked up too.
"It's Vidia!" Tinkerbell said as she and Terence lay Vidia down on the sandy edge of the pool. As they did, Vidia shifted and gave a small groan.
Erikel looked over Vidia, felt her wrist, and then turned to them with a smile. "There is nothing to worry about" He assured them.
"Nothing to worry about?" Iridessa repeated, her eyes wide. "Just-just look at her!"
"It's fine. The formula in her system is used up" Erikel explained.
"Huh?" Everyone gazed at him, looking confused.
"I guess I forgot to mention that the formula's power is only temporary. If you consume it for the first time, the effects only last half a day, but the more times you eat it, the longer the effects last."
"You mean that soon we're-" Rosetta started.
"Yep" Erikel nodded. "I'd say that come morning, you'll be back to normal"
"Whew" Rosetta looked relieved. "Because this look is not me" She lifted the hem of her skirt, which had gotten ragged. "No offense" She said quickly, noticing the from on Erikel's face.
"None taken" He replied, but his tone was angry.
"So, will Vidia be okay?" Iridessa asked. As if in response, Vidia groaned and stirred. Her eyes fluttered open.
"What happened?" She said weakly as everyone else gathered around her.
"The Duskmoth formula wore off. You're not a sprite anymore" Tinkerbell explained. Vidia glanced down at hr now healthy pink skin and sighed.
"Great!" The disappointment on her voice was all too clear. "At least we got the dust"
"You did?" Erikel's face brightened. Over at the pool, the Duskmoth lifted its head.
"Yes we did" Tinkerbell flew the satchel up to Erikel, who moved aside. Tinkerbell took a deep breath and flew up to the Duskmoth, who rose to its feet as she approached, towering over her. "Here it is. Blue Pixie Dust from the Pixie Dust Tree."
"Thank you, my friend". The Duskmoth's voice rang clearly though the cavern as it gently took the satchel in one clawed hand. The look in its glowing eyes was nothing short of gratitude. Spreading its wings, the creature flew to the ceiling of the chamber, reached inside the satchel, and tossed a handful of blue pixie dust into the air. Fanning with his wings, the Duskmoth spread the glowing dust all over the pool. As soon as the dust made contact with the water, it shone with light. Soon the hole pond was covered with dust and it shone like the night sky. Then, slowly, the grains of dust sank beneath the water. Below the surface, the dust particles suddenly seemed to come alive, as they started skimming around like underwater fireflies.
"Wow" Rosetta's voice broke the silence that had fallen over the group.
"It's so beautiful" Tinkerbell added.
"Yeah, but its a bit bright" Vidia squinted at the pond. Suddenly, a scraping sound behind them made everyone spin around towards the chamber entrance. As they watched, a small dark figure detached itself from the shadows of the tunnel and slowly flew towards them, head bowed, a long black staff clutched in hsi arms, it was the Seer.
"Seer, what are you doing here?" Tinkerbell exclaimed admist a chorus of gasps.
"GUARDIAN GUILD!" The Duskmoth's outburst made everyone jump. The creature was glaring at the Seer with extreme hostility, making the sparrow-man pale in terror. Vidia could hardly blame him, she felt terrified just watching. "You will not destroy my brood again!" Shrieking in anger, the Duskmoth launched itself at the seer.
"WAIT!" Tinkerbell's voice booming throughout the chamber surprised everyone, including herself, as she darted between the towering Duskmoth and the terrifying Seer. "Wait!"
"You" The Duskmoth hissed angrily, fixing her with its burning gaze. "You bring him here." It's smoldering eyes were ablaze with anger, hatred, and something else, pain. "Why did you bring him here? Why do you betray me?"
Gazing into those eyes was like looking into the sun, Tinkerbell's mind screamed for her to look away, but she didn't. She took a deep breath, and answered calmly. "I did not betray you. You asked me to get the blue pixie dust for you, and I did. But I would not have been able to do it without the Seer." She motioned to the elderly Sparrow-man, who was shakily getting to his feet. The Duskmoth growled but it didn't move. "When I was captured by Kelsier, it was the Seer who helped me to escape."
"Great Duskmoth" The Seer interrupted, slowly flying past Tinkerbell, gazing at the Duskmoth not in fear, but in awe. "In all my years, I never thought I would get the chance to see you for real. I mean, I've heard the stories, but they only tell so much. But I can say this, I have never, once in my life, dreamed of causing any sort of harm to you or any of your kind" The Seer glanced at the glowing pool as he said this. "Truth is, I found this place by accident. I was trying to catch up with you lot" The Seer turned back to Tinkerbell.
"Us?" Terence cocked his head.
The Seer nodded, his face looking grim. "I feel you should know, the Guardian Guild is on the attack. Kelsier is leading them to occupy the Pixie Dust Tree."
"What?!" A chorus of voices gasped.
"It's true" The Seer hung his head. "I spoke out against this, but it had already been decided."
"But Queen Clarion..." Rosetta protested.
"Queen Clarion has given him permission to do this because she thinks that he will drive the Duskmoth away from the tree. I fear that by the time she realizes the gravity of her mistake, it will be too late. If Kelsier gains control of the Pixie Dust Tree, he will be able to control the flow of Pixie Dust."
"And through that, he can control all the fairies of Pixie Hollow" Terence summarized, clenching his fists.
"We can't let that happen" Tinkerbell agreed.
"But how can we stop them?" Silvermist countered. "There's at least fifty of them and only nine of us."
"Eleven, counting Klank and Bobble" Tinkerbell corrected.
"Still seems like a long shot" Silvermist continued.
"So?" Vidia gave the water fairy a hard look, a frown on her face. "That's never stopped us before"
"But we can't take on fifty members of our own kind" Rosetta protested. "Besides, until this stuff wears off, we'll be seen as sprites. And whose idea was that again?" She glared at Vidia as she spoke.
"Hey, at least I had a plan, which is more than what you were doing. 'Oh grey is so not my color'" Vidia mocked at she flew up to Rosetta. The garden fairy's hands clenched and the roots of the cavern around her groaned in response, making the chamber shake.
"Okay, calm down" Fawn came between the two. "It's no one's fault."
"The fault is Kelsier's" Erikel agreed. "If he had only listened years before, none of this would have happened." The muscular sparrow-man sighed. "If only he wasn't so skeptical by nature."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Tinkerbell's head whipped around.
"Well, Kelsier needs to see something in order to believe it." Erikel explained. "He learns from experience and tends to jump to conclusions as a result."
"That's it!" Tinkerbell snapped her fingers. Everyone looked at her, including the Duskmoth.
"What's it?" Vidia finally asked. Tinkerbell turned to her, so excited she could hardly keep still.
"I've got an idea. It's crazy, but if it works, it could stop Kelsier for good!"