Chapter 7
7
" A re you telling me I'm a fairy?" Perplexed, Anna looked back and forth between Margerite and Anton, who nodded in agreement.
"Her memory is coming back!" Beaming with joy, Anton gave a jump and the forest shook. A trunk cracked and the tree fell with a loud crash. The giant looked at the felled beech tree with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to do that."
Anna only noticed it out of the corner of her eye. She laughed heartily. All the tension fell away as tears of laughter slid from the corners of her eyes. She wiped them aside and shook her head. "So why am I tall? Why don't I have wings? And why was I in the human world? Besides, I don't have any magical powers."
Margerite gracefully ran her fingers through a small pouch hanging from her belt and sprinkled a pinch of glitter — was it fairy dust? — over herself. In no time at all, she grew and grew, her wings shimmering transparently and disappearing until Margerite was the same size as Anna, maybe a little taller. She was still wearing her fairy clothes and was barefoot, and these were the only things that didn't make her look completely normal.
Laughter caught in Anna's throat. She stared at her wide-eyed, but Margerite merely shrugged. Apparently for her, such a transformation was the most normal thing in the world.
"We can live in both forms. However, our magical power is stronger when we are small. And, obviously we can only fly when our wings are present."
"I can hardly believe it." Anna carefully reached out her hand and touched Margerite. "You're real, aren't you?"
The fairy smiled. "Just like you. Do you want to try it?"
Anna held her breath and shook her head. What nonsense were they trying to sell her? Just because she was stranded in a fantasy world didn't mean she was a fantasy, just like them. "Maybe some other time."
She took a few steps, her eyes fixed on the ferns and mushrooms on the forest floor. If the two of them were convinced Anna belonged here, they were unlikely to help her get back home. She had to talk to someone else. Her family. Didn't Anton want to take her to her family? When she met them — and they surely weren't fairies — she would reason with them. And clear up all this madness. She tried again to recall her parents' faces, but couldn't. Why wasn't she able to remember what they looked like? What were their names and where did they live? There had to be a logical explanation.
"Where are my parents?"
"Fairies have no parents."
Anger bubbled up inside her, but she needed to stay calm. It was important to always remain calm when dealing with crazy people. She inhaled deeply and glanced up at Anton. "Didn't you want to take me to them?!"
"Not to your parents, your family. And the fairies are your family."
Anna rubbed her forehead. If things went on like this, she was sure to end up with a headache. Margerite stroked her shoulder sympathetically. In human form, she seemed so normal and ordinary that Anna felt hopeful, but thew words Margerite then spoke immediately destroyed that feeling. "We are born from a young plant's first pollen grain."
Anna laughed unhappily. "From a grain of pollen?"
"Exactly. A plant grows, produces its first bud, and when it blooms, it releases the pollen inside. As soon as a strong wind blows, it sends the particles on a journey, and when the sun's rays shine on it, the pollen turns into a fairy."
An image popped up in her mind against her will. The very notion was magical. Tired, she sighed. There had to be someone somewhere she could speak to rationally. Until then, she would play along with the two of them.
"Then there must be an incredible number of fairies."
Margerite's shoulders sagged. "There were once a lot of fairies, but now there aren't even twenty of us."
Why so few? "So you are threatened with extinction!"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Why…" Wait… why hadn't she seen a single bloom since she'd arrived in the Kingdom of Flowers? "Why isn't anything blooming?"
"Because one thoughtless act threw everything out of whack."
Now they were getting down to the nitty-gritty. Iris's accusations echoed in Anna's mind again. It made sense to find out what the fairies and Anton believed happened back then. Anna stopped and looked at Margerite. "Let me guess. I was the one who acted rashly, right?"
Margerite nodded, lowering her head as if she were ashamed.
"So, what is it that I supposedly did?"
When the fairy continued, her voice was merely a whisper. "You gave our fairy dust to the pirates."
"What? Why would I have done that?" The idea that she was a fairy was unimaginable, but the notion that she should have betrayed the other fairies and given something as precious as this dust to the pirates was simply outrageous.
"Because you…"
"Stop!" Anton interrupted. "Don't tell her! I'm glad she has forgotten that scoundrel."
Uncertain, Margerite peered up at the giant, who was again looking down at them from between the treetops. Anna, however, placed her hands on her hips.
"Out with it already! I don't know what I did, but if it's true, I need to know to make things right." And she meant it.
"You fell in love." Margerite held up her hand as if she could stop the giant, who sighed loudly and ran his left hand through his bristly hair.
What? This just kept getting better and better. "Which one of those stinking pirates did I supposedly fall in love with?"
Margerite glanced around and when she began to speak, her voice was so quiet that she could hardly be heard. Nevertheless, Anna understood every word, almost as if she already knew the answer.
"With Christopher O'Brien, the captain of Fortuna, and the most feared pirate on the seas."
Anna didn't know who the fairy was talking about, but an image immediately popped into her head. A coat dusky like a shadow, the dark eyes of a predator, and a look that made the hairs on her forearms stand up.
"You must stay away from him at all costs," Anton immediately implored, thus confirming she had the right captain in mind. The giant leaned down so close to them that the tops of the oaks and spruces leaned to the sides. He stared at her urgently with his mossy-green eyes, which were as big as Anna's head. "Promise me, Anemone, stay away from him."
Her heart beat faster as if it knew — unlike her head, which was still filled with doubts — the truth of their words. Anna nervously smoothed her strawberry-blonde hair. At least she could try to fix it. "Why should I run into his arms? After all, part of his crew abducted me."
Margerite winced. "They abducted you? How? You're lucky you managed to escape. It's unimaginable what could have happened had they gotten their hands on you."
Anna waved her hand dismissively. They could talk about the incident another time. She wanted to hear the truth. The entire truth. "So, I supposedly fell in love with this captain and gave him the fairy dust? What was so bad about that?"
"What was so bad about that?" Iris shouted, suddenly appearing behind them. The fairy clenched her tiny fists at her side and a vein pulsed furiously on her forehead once more. "It caused our world to become unbalanced. The pirates normally only have sovereignty at sea. Our dust, however, allowed them to fly. They have come into conflict with the giants, the Lords of the Skies."
"Wait, I thought the giants lived in the Kingdom of Rocks."
"Yes, but their breath controls the wind," Margerite said softly.
"Exactly!" Iris's little face turned dark red as she glared at Anna. "Due to the chaos in the air, the wind doesn't blow as it normally does, which means fewer fairies are born — but apart from that, the magic of the fairy dust is ours. There is not an infinite quantity. We lack the pirates' share and as a result, we are unable to get many flowers to bloom, which means even fewer fairies are born. Your lovesick actions nearly wiped us fairies out!"
Anna remained silent. Part of her was reluctant to acknowledge that the fairies and the giant were speaking the truth and that she was truly the sole cause of this chaos. She had no memory of it whatsoever — so how could she feel responsible? Yet a small voice hidden deep within her whispered that they were speaking the truth.
She put her hand on her sweater, exactly where the sun-shaped pendant was hidden, and took a deep breath. She had made a decision. "It's hard for me to apologize for a mistake I don't remember making, but if I'm the one responsible, I'll make sure I make it right."
"Make it right? How are you going to do that?" Iris's voice crackled with anger.
Anna looked resolutely at the tiny, angry creature fluttering through the air in front of her. "First, I need you to tell me everything you know."
"I don't have time for this!" Iris tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder. "I have a family to protect — our family that you betrayed, Anemone. Don't show up at the fairy tree again or you'll regret it!" Her unyielding gaze drifted to Margerite. "And you should think carefully about where your loyalty lies." With those words, she turned and zipped away.
Margerite looked contritely at her toes, and Anna left her alone for a moment and glanced up at Anton. If she was going to believe anyone, it was him. "Toni, why can't I remember any of this?"
The giant shrugged his massive shoulders, looking as helpless as a small child. "We don't know."
"What happened to me after I gave the fairy dust to the pirates?"
Margerite's shoulders trembled. A tear escaped the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek. She looked at Anna sadly. "I don't know, but the captain did something to you. Shortly afterward, chaos broke out and you were not seen again — until today."
With those words, goosebumps spread across Anna's arms and she rubbed them, shivering. "How many months ago was that?"
"Months?" Margerite shook her head, her blonde locks brushing her shoulders. "Not months, Anemone, years."
Anna peered up at Anton, who nodded sadly. "You were missing for an awfully long time. But I knew one day you would find your way back to us and make everything right again. I believe in you, Anemone."
As he spoke, she was flooded with warmth and she smiled gratefully at him. She was grateful to have him standing by her. And she would stick to her word. She would restore order, even if she had no idea how to go about it. First, she needed to find out what had happened so many years ago.
"So, you're assuming the captain took my memories and then brought me back to my world?"
"Not to your world, to the non-magical world." As Anton shook his head, the treetops whooshed to the sides and countless leaves rained down on them. "I'm certain he was afraid you'd stop him. That's why he banished you."
The captain she supposedly fell in love with banished her? "Then why did some pirates bring me back?"
Anton stroked his hairy chin. "I'd like to know that too."
"Maybe because they ran out of fairy dust and were hoping you would give them more," Margerite speculated.
"Did the captain know about your abduction?" Anton asked.
With the way he'd called out her name? "I don't believe so. He seemed more than a little surprised to see me."
"He saw you? He knows you're back?" Margerite's voice trembled. She huddled her shoulders and glanced around warily. Was she worried that the pirates would jump out from behind the trees at any moment?
"Yes, but Freddy saved her," Anton said, remembering what Anna had told him.
Right — that helpful pirate had shown up. Odd that he hadn't shown loyalty to his captain and allowed her to escape. "Who is Freddy and why did he help me? Is he on the side of the fairies?"
"Not exactly, but his sense of decency and honor is pleasantly unusual for a pirate." Margerite ran her hand over her arms, which were covered with goosebumps. "You must, under no circumstances, fall into the hands of the pirates. I bet they wanted to get more fairy dust from you."
More fairy dust? Was that what those pirates were after? Then they absolutely had to protect the source — if there was one. "Where do the fairies get fairy dust?"
Skeptical, Margerite narrowed her eyes. "There is one source, but it…has dried up."
What? It just kept getting worse. A quiet sadness settled over Anna. "So how can you still fly and take care of the flowers?"
"Luckily, we don't need fairy dust to fly, which is why we can continue to do it, but the flowers…" She sighed heavily. "We collected the remaining stock back then and Iris monitors the allotments like a vulture. There is still a little left, but even that bit won't last forever. It's not nearly enough to make the flowers bloom, especially since the giants still aren't blowing the wind over our kingdom. So, even if we were to make a single flower bloom with the little bit that remains, there would be no wind to blow the pollen so it could turn it into a fairy."
"So, we need to restore the source so you can have enough fairy dust to make the flowers bloom again?"
Margerite nodded. "With every new flower that blooms, fairies can be born. If we had enough dust at our disposal, we could venture out and finally take care of our kingdom again."
If Anna managed to get the source flowing again, she could make amends for her past wrongdoings. Deep in thought, she wrapped one of her glossy red strands around her finger. Margerite smiled and Anna looked up. "What?"
"Just like you used to do."
Anton let out his deep, slow laugh. "That's right. We always said that just like you wrap your hair around your finger, you do the same with living creatures."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "I supposedly wrap people around my finger?"
"Humans, giants, fairies…" Margerite smiled again, but Anna returned to her musings until an idea popped into her head.
"Can you show me where the source is? Maybe that way I can figure out how to get it working again."
Margerite hesitated.
Anna looked at her in surprise. It had to be in Margerite's interest for the fairy dust to flow again. "What?"
"Well, Iris certainly wouldn't be… You heard what she said. Well, she'd go berserk if she found out."
Anna lowered her voice involuntarily. "She doesn't have to find out. And given that the source has dried up anyway, I can't hand out more fairy dust to terrible pirates, can I?"
Anton nudged Margerite with his finger and she almost lost her balance. "Don't be like that. We have to give her a chance to fix everything. She can do it. I trust her and you should too."
Anna smiled gratefully at the giant.
With a soft sigh, Margerite agreed. "But we should turn into fairies, because otherwise, it will take us forever. I have to be back at the fairy tree before nightfall or else I can't be certain Iris will ever let me in again."
Anna stared at her in disbelief. She was supposed to turn into a fairy? "But…I…am not really a…" She paused. Crazy people had to be beaten at their own game. "How is that going to work?"
"I'll show you." Margerite closed her eyes. "Just imagine being small. And feel your wings, which belong to you and are invisible at the moment but are a hidden part of you, and there you go." A bell tinkled and Margerite shrank. In no more than the blink of an eye, she barely reached Anna's ankle and was standing with her sparkling wings on the pine needles in front of her. "I'm back in my natural form." She beamed as if it were the easiest thing in the world to transform from human to fairy. "Now you."
Anna chuckled. "I don't think I'm…" she said, thinking a fairy, but saying out loud "…able to do that, but if you say so."
"Wait, you don't have any fairy dust on you. And you don't have a pouch on your belt either. We'll have to correct that. It makes transformation easier."
"I thought it was almost gone."
"The small amount I give you won't make a difference." She reached gleefully into the bag, flew up, and sprinkled a tiny amount over her. The glittering particles slowly scattered over Anna. It looked magical, and Anna could almost believe in these fantastic things.
"Now." The little fairy looked so happy, as if Anna's attempt was reason enough to hope for a successful conclusion.
Anna couldn't help but grin as she closed her eyes and imagined she was a fairy. It couldn't do any harm and then the two of them wouldn't be able to accuse her of not trying hard enough. Tiny, wings, barefoot, leafy dress. She laughed again. This was ridiculous. Nevertheless, she took great pains to focus and narrowed her eyes. She tried to imagine wings growing out of her back, but she couldn't feel any of the fairytale magic. She balled her hands into fists, tucked in her head, made herself smaller — maybe that would help — and opened her eyes. Nothing happened.
"Now!" Margerite cried out. But Anton shook his head, causing another shower of leaves to fall on Anna's head. An oak leaf sailed directly toward Margerite, who swerved quickly to avoid the falling leaf.
"She doesn't sense it, nor does she believe it. I can see it in her face." With the giant's calm words, Margerite's happiness vanished. Disappointed, she looked at Anna, who shrugged in resignation.
"I'm sorry, but all of this is actually beyond my imagination. Until a few hours ago, I was a completely normal person in a world where magic only existed in stories. Okay, I saw a flying pirate ship, a giant, and a fairy, but actually I still believe that I…"
Curious, Margerite leaned in closer. "That you what?"
"That she's dreaming." Anton sighed heavily and flopped down onto the ground. The earth shook so much that Anna only kept her balance with difficulty. There was another crack in the forest and several trees fell over.
"Be careful, Anton, otherwise I'll have to ban you. You can't destroy our forest."
"Sorry." He sniffled. "I just never thought that…that…" He sniffed again. "…that Anemone wouldn't remember me when she returned."
Pain gripped Anna's heart. She hurried to the edge of the forest and into the glade where Anton sitting with outstretched legs and his head hanging. She stroked his legs, thick as tree trunks, as he looked at her sadly. Tears glittered in his long, dark eyelashes and countless more had already dripped from his chin, forming a small puddle in the meadow.
"I believe in you, Toni. You are…real, even though my mind tells me otherwise. But my heart knows we belong together, that we have been friends forever. I trust you and know you can do it too."
The corners of his mouth twitched and in what was for him a quick gesture, he placed her on his palm and brought her close to his hairy face. "That's the most beautiful thing I've heard in a long time, Anemone." He gently brought her to his cheek and Anna nestled against him. The feeling of his long whiskers brushing against her face felt familiar. Suddenly, an image flashed through her mind. She saw herself and Anton by a raging waterfall. Birds were chirping, countless flowers were blooming, and they were both laughing heartily. Then the image blurred, but the memory remained.
Anna opened her eyes. Was it all true after all? Stunned, she looked at the giant. "Toni, I do remember you!"
His face beamed like a child's. "Truly? Finally, Anemone. I knew you could do it." Cautiously, he pressed her to him and they laughed. It sounded exactly like she remembered. Anna couldn't remember anything other than this image she had in her mind, but her inner voice whispered that as incredible as it all sounded, the two of them were speaking the truth. She originally came from this land. She hadn't seen herself as a fairy and she couldn't truly believe she was one, but she knew her home was in this magical world and not the other one in which she had been trapped for years. Exiled, so to speak.
Hope and a sense of belonging that she hadn't felt in a long time flowed through her. She would remember — of that much she was certain. And now it was time to find out what had happened back then and why she had given fairy dust to the pirates and what the captain had done to her afterward.