"You've got to find and destroy the machine that's holding me here. Then we'll be able to go over everything we know together and make a plan," Ly stressed to the rather befuddled bunch.
So far, meeting the tailed fairy had only brought them more questions than answers. However, she was clearly right about one thing. They needed to find a way to get her out of there!
"How do we destroy the machine? Do we just shove branches into the gears, like Lottie showed us how to do with the pumps?" Globox wondered innocently, but that seemed to give the purple fairy pause.
"Wait, it was you all who were causing issues with the pirate's waste pumps?" Ly asked in surprise at this bit of news.
"Yeah. Those stinking robots have completely polluted the Fairy Glade! So, we did what we could to put a stop to it, but how did you know?" Rayman wondered.
"I overheard the pirates complaining about problems with the pumps and the system backing up and affecting their machine. Due to your efforts, it sounds like you're already half way to destroying it. Very clever," Ly praised, flashing Lottie a smile and a nod.
"I mean, not really. It was just, kind of an obvious thing to do when you think about it," the green fairy shrugged, toeing at the floor while avoiding eye contact.
"Be that as it may, I'm not sure if this machine will be quite so easy to sabotage. You'll just have to take a look for yourselves and see," Ly encouraged nonetheless.
"Right, let's get to it," Rayman nodded in acknowledgment, turning and striding out of the room.
"Come on, Lottie!" Globox grabbed her and pulled her along when she didn't seem in a huge hurry to move.
Trudging down a long hall, the three of them stepped into a positively radioactive room. At least, if the glowing, green liquid sludging around beneath the pipes running to and from the ominous machine in the distance was any indication. The thing was sparking dangerously as what Lottie assumed was the backed up waste continued to rise. The sooner they managed to shut it down, the better.
"I don't see any gears on this one. What are we gonna do, Rayman?" Globox puzzled at the device.
"Well, looks like Ly was right about the broken pumps doing damage to the machine. See all those patches? I think they've been trying to fix it, but it seems like it's barely holding together. A good blast here or there outta destroy it for good," Rayman emphasized.
"Like, from a TNT barrel?" Lottie chimed in, gaining the hero's attention.
"What do you. . ." he began, but trailed off as he followed to where she was pointing. "Yeah, that'll work," he nodded.
Hefting up a barrel, Rayman marched towards the end of the pipe, getting as close to the machine as he could. He then launched the load at the contraption. As soon as it connected with one of the arc's of energy, the whole thing exploded in a flash of light and smoke. The group coughed and fanned at the air as everything in the room slowed to a grinding halt.
"Looks like that did the trick," Lottie choked out.
"You know it! Now, let's get back to Ly," Rayman ordered.
They found her still hovering where they'd left her, but now free from the barrier and it's energy stealing properties. She floated down towards the trio to join them on the platform.
"Ly! Are you okay?" Rayman asked in concern, stepping up to place a hovering hand on her much smaller one.
She returned the gesture with a smile and pulled him into her arms in a friendly embrace. Which, Lottie noted, he had no arguments about returning, as best as he could without arms of his own, anyway.
"Oh, Rayman, at last! I am doing much better now. Thank you so much for setting me free! It is so good to see you," she gushed in his ear before releasing him.
"It's great to see you too," he agreed, but then his expression fell to a serious stare. "I'm glad we were able to find you in time, but now what? The pirates still have most of the residents of the Glade of Dreams locked up on their prison ship, and I doubt I'm going to be able to defeat them without all of my powers. . ." he trailed leadingly, Ly managing to pick right up on it.
"I'm sorry, Rayman, but I am too weak to give you back all your powers since the pirates broke the Primordial Energy Core. Trying to recombine the energy has become very difficult since they managed to steal so much of my own power. The broken core has been affecting everyone, so until we're able to repair it, I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be," she explained sadly.
"That's alright, Ly. I understand. I know you're doing your best," Rayman offered, trying to sound encouraging, but still letting out a small sigh of disappointment.
"Although, to be honest, this is where I was hoping Lottie might be able to step in," Ly mentioned, a small smile playing at her lips as she turned towards her.
"Uh, no offense Ly, but this girl seems to have absolutely no idea what she's doing," Rayman muttered behind his hand, although everyone still managed to hear him.
"Hey! I don't know what I don't know! How is that my fault?" Lottie barked in protest.
"Well, you're a fairy too, right Ly? Maybe you could teach her?" Globox suggested.
"I'm not sure it's going to be that simple, Globox. In the meantime, why don't we start with what you do know?" Ly proposed instead.
"What do you mean?" the girl asked.
"I mean, you know where you are, right?" Ly started.
"The Fairy Glade," Lottie answered.
"And I think it's a safe bet to assume that you know who you're with?"
Lottie cast a sideways glance at her present company and nodded.
"But do you know how you got here?" Ly asked. Lottie shook her head. "Do you know why you're here?" Lottie shook her head. "Do you even know who you are?" Ly continued the inquiries with mounting concern, but Lottie once again shook her head. The purple fairy hummed in consternation, rubbing at her chin.
"Yes, I can see how this could pose a problem," she decided.
"Ly! Could you please just tell us what is going on?" Rayman finally demanded, his patience obviously reaching it's breaking point at being left in the dark.
"Alright, Rayman. This is what I know. After the pirates attacked, Betilla and her sisters locked themselves away on the other side of the Heart of the World, to keep what happened to me from happening to them. However, they didn't count on the heart being destroyed, so until we are able to repair it, they're trapped in the other realm."
"Then, after the pirates had managed to capture everyone, I had a vision from Polokus. In his distress over what was happening to our world, he tried to dream up someone who could help us. Namely, a new fairy. Except, I don't think he had an exact idea of what he wanted in mind, so I'm afraid things may have gotten a bit, jumbled, in her creation," she explained, gesturing in Lottie's direction.
"Jumbled?" Rayman repeated incredulously.
"Yes, for example, he wanted to gift this new fairy with the Earth element due to how versatile it is, being equal parts healing and harming, capable of both creation and destruction if necessary. Which, judging by her appearance, it seems he was successful in. However, when it comes to her mind, it appears as though it wasn't quite formed correctly. He was in a rush, which could account for the gaps in her knowledge. Not only that, but a part of her consciousness might have even been pulled from another source entirely to save time. But honestly, it's hard to say. Polokus' powers have always worked in strange and mysterious ways," Ly elaborated for them.
During the information dump, the part that caught Lottie's attention the most was that bit about her consciousness getting pulled from another source. Is that what had happened? Is that why she had impressions from another life that she couldn't remember? Had Polokus somehow pulled her mind from the real world into this one, but it somehow got mixed up along the way? She supposed it could explain why she had knowledge but no memories. Too bad she'd ended up with more real world knowledge that Rayman world knowledge. . .
"All I can say for sure, is that Polokus created her with the specific intention to aid us in getting rid of the pirates once and for all. Unfortunately, how exactly that is supposed to happen wasn't clear. That's why I was hoping Lottie would know," Ly was continuing as she studied the new fairy before her.
"The only thing I know, or can even remember, is waking up on that prison ship," Lottie informed her with a tired shrug.
Ly's expression fell into one of sad sympathy at the reminder.
"I am so sorry dear. You getting captured was never supposed to happen. When Polokus creates a new fairy, they are supposed to be born inside the Fairy Council at the Heart of the World, but it was destroyed before he could, so without any energy to ground you. . ." Ly trailed, letting the rest speak for itself. "More unintended results, I'm afraid."
"Sounds like when you say things were a mess, you didn't know the half of it, Rayman!" Globox opted to add, rather uncharacteristically insightful of him.
"No kidding! So, where do we go from here? You know, since it seems like Polokus' contingency plan turned out to be a dud," Rayman hinted, although his meaning was still obvious due to his rather snarky tone.
Lottie shot him a glare and opened her mouth to once again protest, however this time, Ly beat her to the punch.
"Rayman, please. Lottie is hardly to blame for the current situation," she argued, before turning back to the girl. "You'll have to forgive him. He gets a bit, tense when he's worried about his friends," she offered in justification.
"Yeah, I noticed," Lottie mumbled with an eye roll.
"As for the next course of action, there may be another solution. Polokus himself has an immense amount of power. He could help us defeat the pirates easily, that is, if he wasn't stuck in an enchanted slumber. All he can do now is communicate through dreams. But, there is a legend which says he could be awakened. If you reunite his four masks. . ." Ly trailed cryptically.
"His four masks?" Rayman questioned.
"Wait, don't tell me! Lemme guess. We gotta go to a swamp, a mountain, an ocean, and a canyon. The four who are there, bring them here," Lottie suddenly rattled off all mysteriously before she could think better of it, earning her some odd looks.
"Perhaps, it's hard to say for sure, as information on where they are being kept has been lost over time. What I do know, is that they are magical and very powerful. Which is why they were hidden in temples across the Glade of Dreams, and each one is protected by a guardian. You'll need to find the temples, make your way through the puzzles, and defeat the guardians. Only after proving yourself worthy, will you be allowed to take the masks, or so the legends say anyhow," the purple fairy continued, seemingly unfazed by Lottie's random commentary.
"So, we need to find these masks, but you don't have any idea where they are?" Rayman questioned dubiously. Ly shrugged apologetically.
"It had always been better for the masks to stay lost to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. Who knows what damage they could do if they were ever used for evil. I recommend asking the Teensies. They tend to be pretty meticulous about keeping information. I'm willing to bet they'll be able to give you a lead," she suggested.
"Talk to the Teensies. Got it. The king told us they'd be waiting at Menhir Hills. Hopefully they'll be able to at least point us in the right direction," the limbless wonder nodded in acknowledgment. "What about you, Ly? What are you going to do now?" he wondered.
"I'll head for home to rest. See if I can recover some of my strength. That's where I'll be if you need me," she informed him.
"Right, that sounds like a good idea. Meanwhile, we'll do what we can to try and find those masks. Let's go, Globox," Rayman waved to his friend.
"Sure thing," he replied, subconsciously reaching over to take hold of Lottie and drag her along with him before following.
However, this time, the fairy girl didn't budge, digging in her heels hard enough to successfully wrench herself from his grasp. This gave him pause, turning to stare at her in confusion as she remained rooted to the spot.
"Uh, aren't you coming with us?" he wondered at her lack of movement.
"Why would I go with you? I thought we'd already established that I was a dud?" Lottie reminded the group. Not to mention, she hadn't exactly been invited. . . Although, she did notice Rayman visibly flinch at her emphasis on the word.
"What? What do you mean you're not going with them? You have to! Polokus made it very clear in his vision to me that you'd be essential in helping to defeat the pirates. In fact, I'm afraid Rayman isn't going to be able to succeed without you," Ly suddenly began to stress, almost sounding in a near panic.
"But, you just said yourself that you don't even know how I'm supposed to be essential! I thought that's why you suggested this new plan of going after the masks. All I've been told so far is that I was intended to be able to use healing magic. Except, can't Rayman just use the red Lums to heal himself if he gets hurt? I mean, it's not like I can even do that anyway. I really don't think he needs me," Lottie was quick to argue.
Ly returned the protests with a very hard gaze at the green pixie. Almost as if she were trying to read her mind, or possibly peer into her soul! Either way, it was making her uncomfortable.
"It would seem as though, you don't have any confidence in yourself," she eventually determined. "You do realize that your magic, your powers – they aren't going to work unless you actually believe you are capable of using them," she went on to explain.
Lottie stared back at her for a long moment before finally blowing out an exasperated sigh.
"So, what? Is this a 'clap if you believe in fairies' kinda thing?" she huffed, slumping to one side.
"Well, the cynical sarcasm isn't exactly helping," Ly wasted no time in pointing out.
"Oh, I'm so sorry that I didn't come preprogrammed with the perfect chipper, bubbly fairy personality that I was supposed to! Maybe if I hadn't been taken by a bunch of psychotic, robot pirates as soon as I got here. . .!" Lottie exclaimed in exasperation, trailing off at the end as she didn't particularly want to relive any of her time on that accursed ship.
"All I'm saying is that perhaps a more cheerful, positive outlook will help you tap into your potential. Negative emotions do tend to have a damping affect on fairy magic. Have some faith in yourself. You are more capable than you think," the tailed fairy assured her, taking her hands and squeezing them in an encouraging gesture.
"Okay, but, where do I even start?" Lottie murmured woefully, her eyes falling on their clasped hands.
"Keep doing whatever you can to help Rayman. I'd really appreciate it if you'd at least be willing to continue traveling with him, for now anyway. Then, just give it some time, and I'm sure it'll come to you," Ly assured her with a big smile.
Lottie felt her conviction wavering in the face of such positivity. If Ly really thought she was going to be able to make a difference, then she supposed she didn't mind going with them. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do, after all. And she had to admit, she was rather curious to find out more about this world she'd found herself stuck in, and to finally see how the game ended. Not to mention adventuring around with Rayman sounded far more interesting than simply sitting around doing nothing with the rest of the NPCs.
"If you say so, I guess I can do that. If it's alright with him, anyway," she consented, nodding in the limbless hero's direction.
"Oh, don't you worry about that. I'm sure I can find a way to convince him," Ly replied with a playful grin and a wink, earning her an eye roll from Rayman. "In the meantime, why don't you and Globox head outside and see what you can do about your dormant powers. I'd recommend focusing on your wings first. Flying is one of those things that should be second nature to a fairy," she suggested waving them off, Globox being all too willing to comply as he excitedly began to drag her away.
"And remember, happy thoughts!" Ly called after the pair as they disappeared around the corner.
Once they were out of hearing range, Rayman turned to his fairy friend with a less than motivated expression. "Ly, are you sure about this?"
"Sure about what?" she asked.
"Do you really think having her come with us is a good idea? I'm afraid she's just going to end up slowing us down. Since, you know, that's basically all she's done so far," he argued.
Ly paused pensively for a long moment, mulling over how best to proceed before responding.
"Rayman, the reason I wished to speak to you alone, is because there is one final part of my vision that I have not yet revealed," she offered cryptically.
He cocked an eyebrow at her with renewed interest as she took a deep breath before continuing.
"I didn't want to frighten anyone, or put any more undue pressure on our new friend. But what I saw has me very concerned, especially as it involves you specifically," she explained.
"Me? What about me?" he pressed.
"I'm afraid that if, you don't have Lottie with you during this journey, something terrible is going to happen to you," she ominously disclosed to him.
Rayman couldn't help feeling slightly skeptical about this new bit of news, but opted not to argue with her. Ly had never steered him wrong before, and he was certain she wouldn't do so now.
"While I'm not completely clear on the details, what I was able to piece together is this: as long as Lottie is by your side, whatever tragedy was going to befall you simply won't occur. I honestly don't fully understand it myself, and I wish I could tell you more. But please, for my sake, take her with you. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you simply because having her along is less convenient than we would have liked," she emphatically implored to him.
"You really think she's going to be that important?" he asked, unable to hide his incredulous undertones.
"I do. Polokus created her for a reason, so just, give her a chance. Help her get the confidence she needs, and hopefully she can figure out how to use her magic before it's too late," she stressed, but then her expression lightened into a smirk at the sulking hero. "Also, if it's not too much trouble, try cutting her a little slack. Keep in mind that her very first memories, and basically the only ones she has, are of getting captured and tortured by pirates. I'm sure none of this has been any easier for her than it has for you," she told him.
At that reminder, Rayman's grumpy visage softened, and he had to admit that Ly had a point. She'd certainly been in pretty rough shape when they'd first found her.
"Do you know why? What were they hoping to gain?" he wondered.
"I believe they wanted to know where Betilla and the other fairies are. But it's not like she could have told them even if she wanted to, because she herself didn't even know. The poor thing. I wish there was more I could do for her," Ly lamented.
Rayman blew out a long sigh, absentmindedly running a hand through his hair.
"You're right, Ly. I was just worried about you and the fact that it took us so much longer to get here than it should have," he confessed, before flashing her a grin. "But you're alright now, and we've got a plan to help free everyone else. So if you really think we should take her along, then that's what we'll do!" he confirmed with a thumbs up.
"Thank you, Rayman. Be careful, and good luck!" These were Ly's final words before she vanished in a bright glow, warping herself back to her home. Just as magical and mysterious as ever.
. . .
Outside the pirate fortress, Globox was quietly observing while Lottie was doing everything she could think of to try and get her wings to simply move! She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut and was attempting to focus. Although, she could only imagine that to an outside observer, it probably looked more like she was struggling to have a bowel movement! She blew out a strained breath, slumping forward in defeat. She felt like a fool!
"What are you doing now?" Globox asked her, clueless as ever.
"I'm trying to 'think of a wonderful thought'," she informed him with sarcastic air quotes, which only ended up going right over his head.
"Oh, how's it going?" he wondered.
To which Lottie was sorely tempted to snap back with a – how does it look like it's going?! But she managed to check herself, remembering that a negative attitude wasn't going to do her any favors. Instead, opting to simply try again.
"Come on! Think of Christmas, think of snow. Think of sleigh bells, off you go. Like reindeer in the sky," she sang to herself, although it came out as more of a chant.
She turned to find her wings still stubbornly refusing to budge and growled at them in frustration.
"Darn you, wings! How do you fly this thing?!" she demanded down at her hands.
Lottie hadn't expected that it would be so difficult to simply conjure a few happy feelings. That is, until it dawned on her that part of her problem was that she didn't exactly have any happy memories to draw on. She understood the concept of Christmas, as she recalled the song from the popular children's movie, but she couldn't remember actually experiencing the holiday before.
Another quote that came to mind, was that all you needed to fly, were 'faith, trust, and a little pixie dust'. However, she wasn't a little kid anymore, after all, and blind faith was a lot harder than it used to be. At least, she assumed it had been easier once upon a time. She wracked her brain, but couldn't come up with anything, as she glowered down at her open palms. Was there really nothing she could find to be happy about? The thought inadvertently making her all the more depressed.
"This isn't working," she mumbled.
"What isn't working?" Both her and Globox heard from behind her.
They turned to find Rayman strolling out of the pirate ship to join them.
"Lottie's trying to figure out how to fly," Globox answered for her. Although, she had to wonder at why he was asking. Shouldn't it be obvious after what Ly had just told her?
"Doesn't seem like you've made much progress," he commented, only realizing how unencouraging the statement sounded after watching the girl's face fall.
Rayman cringed and placed a hand over his eyes. He was already off to a terrible start even after assuring Ly that he was going to try and be more forgiving with her. No sense in focusing on the negative, he told himself, before puffing out his chest and readdressing the situation with a brighter visage.
"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sure the three of us together can get it figured out. Trust me, we'll have you flying circles around the Glade before you know it, you'll see," he boasted with a friendly grin, even going so far as to give her a few head rubs.
He actually sounded like he was being sincere. And despite her surprise at seeing him trying to go out of his way to be nice to her, in that moment, Lottie could feel her spirits start to lift at his encouraging words. It made her want to believe him, and she couldn't help but return his smile.
A gasp from Globox grabbed both their attention, and they turned to find him pointing towards Lottie's back, a look of astonishment plastered across his face.
"Lottie look! Your wings!" he exclaimed, and she peered over her shoulder to see what he was fussing about.
Sure enough, the gossamer appendages seemed to be waving back and forth in a flapping motion, almost of their own accord. Although she wasn't entirely sure why it was happening, she couldn't help but flip back to Rayman with a beaming expression of pride, which he returned with a lazy half smile.
"Huh, would you look at that? Maybe you are actually a pet after all," he teased.
Lottie's face dropped into a pout and the waving instantly stopped at the insinuation. However, this only seemed to encourage him to look even cheekier. While she didn't fully appreciate being humorously judged for her reaction to him being nice to her for once, Lottie had to admit that the comparison was kind of funny. And so, decided to return his sass with a smirk of her own.
I hope this chapter didn't come across as too boring. I just felt like there were some things that needed explaining for both the characters and the readers. Things are going to start picking up in the next several chapters, I promise! :D
