Flutterbyfalls and its students must escape with their lives as the Pixies rise in their bid for control, putting the students and the future of Flutterbyfalls School in jeopardy.
The corridors looked unrecognisable as Flutterby Falls School creaked and tilted under the weight of invasion. The floating school leant harshly toward the Fallen Stone Wasteland and the Pixie territory beneath. Anchored down by cranking machines, were tethering ropes tightly taut to the crumbling edges of the school grounds.
Wincey edged his way down the curving corridor, rubble and broken chunks of the school on the floors beneath him as he flew into the deserted flyway. Smashed lanterns flickered as the sun started to set, the sky a dusky red, blood on the moon. Students were filling the skies, their wings lifting them to safety, keeping them out of reach as they evacuated. This wasn't an easy task as Pixies launched their Achrom Bombs and dipped spears toward them. The ringing of alarms filled the students’ ears, panic rising in their chests as war had reached the realm.
Groups of first years weaved and dodged the dangers and debris as they followed their Splat Teachers out of the school, using their splat guns to blind and fight off threatening pixies, they clambered over the sides to lead them to the evacuation points below. Mrs Potts, a bulbous, jolly old fairy was registering and managing a growing crowd of panicked parents, relatives and students.
Dr Hue an elderly fairy, with a grumpy demeanour and a short temper, made his way out of the school building with Hoffel Brown, his trusted advisor and an older faculty member who had been with Dr Hue since the beginning of the school's teachings. The slender fairy teacher is fiercely loyal and dependable in a time of crisis, his wings flapping abruptly as the pair made their way across the school grounds. They both looked on in dismay as pixies dragged the fighting fairies from chaotic skies and covered the once-vibrant school in splatters of dark dripping Achrom.
Heading for the Guardian Fountains, the pair did not go unnoticed, the notorious fairy was soon summoned just inches from the stone fountains.
“It’s too late Cornelius, my old friend!” exclaimed Craven Traitorious, from within the doorway of the school prisons, the bars warped and blown apart around him, standing within the cover of the stone.
Dr Hue did not turn his gaze from the fountains. He knew who was talking to him, he may have appeared differently and thought differently but his old friend sounded no different. His wings slowly patted, keeping him on the spot, before he softly turned.
“You’ve always been rash Craven. It’s never too late for good to overcome the forces of evil.” Dr Hue uttered, looking at the shadow of his old friend, barely recognising his sunken eyes hidden in his abused body. Craven had now become the notorious Pixie King. “I look at you! You have lost your way but I have now found a way to revive the old you, the best friend I know still lives somewhere within you! I will cure you, that's a promise!”
Craven threw his head back in hysterics, laughter erupting from him so hard he clutched his middle, steadying himself, planting his feet widely.
“A cure… I've developed a cure, something stronger and more accessible than anything Chroma has ever offered, you are being held back by the curse of your optimism.” Craven replied, stepping forward out of the shadows of the stone.
“While there is colour in this world, I will always be looking on the bright side.’ Dr Hue bellowed across the grounds.
“You underestimate me, old friend!” Craven retorted, “Soon enough, there will be no bright side and this, all this, the school, this world we coloured together will be ruled by me! See this as your punishment for casting me aside for my ambitions!” Craven's lips curled with anger. Hoffle tilted his head, turning his gaze back toward the fountains. They stood close to one another, standing powerful and regal. One forged with the fire of dragons and the other with the chromatic water of Spirata, two worlds united. Never in the history of Flutterby Falls had a moment called for this action and as the faculty veteran gazed upon the stone fountain, he was saddened that the school’s founding members were the root cause of such a moment.
“Ambitions!” Dr Hue scoffed, anger rising in his tone. “The Chroma, the power, it changed you! You’ve thrown your lot in with Carmella and forgotten all our family's teachings, all we have given to this and so many worlds beyond us but mostly… you have forgotten our friendship.” Dr Hue’s words echoed in the walls of the Pixie prison where Spiral lurked uncomfortably, in the doorway, struggling to make eye contact with Dr Hue, feeling ashamed of his father and the destruction he was causing.
“Spiral, all students are being evacuated. Your father’s waged a war but you do not have to stay and fight his fight.’ Out of the shadow, a tall towering figure emerged, a cloaked figure, his face unshielded by a metal mask, chunks of it embedded into his skull and one tattered wing was matched with a golden mechanical wing on the other side. He placed a hand on Spiral's shoulder.
“Have you met Sorrono? No? He is the force, who rose from the wreckage of this world, and he is here to right your wrongs!” Craven spat.
“He looks like an abomination of your wrongs!” Dr Hue bellowed, Sorrono did not move, he just tilted his head to note the insult.
“I knew he would never be accepted with you Fairy lot, so he will now be acknowledged as the Pixie he is, but stronger. The first Mechanical Pixie, a technological blessing and so much more than the meek predecessors that have come before. May my Pixies have mercy on you!” Craven bellowed as a wave of Mechanical Pixies took to the sky, their metal wingspans outstretched, fanning air rhythmically as their fuel gages filled with Achrom.
“Till next time.” Craven threatened, signalling to the Pixies as he strode back into the school.
Dr Hue stood still for a moment, frozen from the interaction, a sadness dawning on him as destruction and chaos reigned on everything Craven and he had created together.
“Sorry, Cornelius…” Hoffle hovered tentatively behind him, “The guardians… it’s our only chance.” Feeling aghast at the Pixies' disrespect, the Mechanical Pixies flew toward the school and the grounds, smashing and desecrating the grounds before them. The earth shifted heavily, unbalancing both the fairies. Dr Hue awoke from his thoughts.
“Yes, we must go.” Dr Hue said as he rose to the sky, the air was unpredictable and turbulent for the school was shifting in the air beneath them, they made their way to the Guardian fountains. “Do you know what we must do?” Hoffle shouted to Dr Hue, “I do!” Dr Hue responded, “This is a distraction Hoffel. You must fetch her, the guardians will buy us time but she will be our saviour.” Hoffels eyes widened. “Is she ready? I was talking about awakening the guardians, not this!” He replied, looking at the stone dragons before them.
“She has to be, she is stronger than us, her and the creatures… they are the answer!” Dr Hue said, placing a hand on the ear of the dragon fountain. “Hoffel you do as I do, in theory, we shift the stone ears to the back of the heads and the streams will cross, pumping the lava and water through the base of the school grounds.” Hoffel promptly nodded and the two old fairies tugged the stone ears back, the dragons shifted, dancing around one another, disrupting the earth around them. As they pulled on the ears, plugs dropped allowing the fountain to drain, lava and water, spurting and splashing. The Fairies moved back as they watched the life force of Draco and Spirata mix, they could feel the heat as it sank down the fountain and spilt into the maze of veinlike plumbing through the base of the school grounds.
“Hoffel, you must go now!” shouted Dr Hue, and without a word, Hoffel took to the sky and dived over the edge of the grounds down towards the Flutterby Fall’s Flat Lands.
Dr Hue stood in disbelief as the sky filled with his Faculty and brave parents, tussling with Mechanical Pixies, the casualties would be great. Even though Dr Hue was filled with fear, he still felt that there was a chance to save the school.
“Dr Hue! Dr Hue!” Spiral was screaming as he flew towards the Headmaster, “You must leave, you must go, the school is coming down!” The earth cracked and shifted, Spiral believed for sure it was another blow from falling to the Wastelands below, and was horrified to see the stone encased Guardian from the right side of the school, digging her huge stone claw into the earth. As she dragged her claw across the earth, the stone that encased her flaked off and fell from the glorious purple creature, like falling snow on a winter's day. She rose her head to the sky, letting out a bellowing flame that engulfed the Pixies and Fairies alike. Spiral and Dr Hue backed up as the dragon's head filled the lawn before them, her crystal green eyes fixed on Dr Hue. Just from eyesight, they had an understanding between them, no words were needed.
Spiral was speechless, and his father looked on in disgust to see his son at Dr Hue’s side.
“Son, you're with the wrong Fairy.” Craven spouted through clenched teeth as he flew before the Dragon.
‘Good luck with your Dragons Hue! Orium wing spans are impenetrable to dragon flame, I know my Pixies are not, but we will merely recycle the parts’
“Callous, considering your Pixies will die!” Dr Hue watched in awe as the Dragon took to the sky, the sheer scale of her was magnificent against everything else.
“I have to be, betrayal is everywhere,” Dr Hue said, turning to Spiral.
“I do not want Fairies to die! I am not betraying you!” Spiral spat out, “Father, does it have to be this way?!” Craven’s anger visibly flashed across his face.
“I have given you everything; health, wings, your mother’s admiration was yours, for being a full Fairy, and you threw your lot in with him!” Dr Hue placed a hand on Spiral's shoulder. The earth abruptly shifted, sending Craven and the Fairies across the grounds.
The second Guardian, a deeper purple, rose at the left-hand side of the school, his nostrils resting on the earth, squashing the trees and foliage that stood beneath him. The dragon’s lilac eyes grew wide and large like a pouncing cat on the hunt, the Fairies were engulfed in large pools of smoke that smouldered from the beast’s nostrils and there on the head of the dragon, stood something that Spiral had never seen. A figure of such strength and beauty it took all the air from his lungs.
Her skin shimmered like Chroma, her hair long and soft, whipped in the wind, the soft white matching the backdrop of clouds, only the iridescent fibres running through it really defined her. The light engulfed and bounced off her skin elegantly, the Fairy shimmered every colour of the rainbow and her armour was made of glittering Orium. Her large eyelashes batted as the wind wrapped around her, but her eyes were in another world - she was listening rather than seeing. The Dragon lifted its head and the Fairy rose to the skyways above, the light rebounded off every tier of her large, angel shaped wingspan. Spiral shielded his eyes, unwilling to turn away, he fought to look again. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
“Who is she?” Spiral whispered.
“She is our saviour…she is The Cured One.” Dr Hue said, tugging Spiral back as the Dragon lifted to the sky, watching in awe as the Chromatic Fairy, fought the oncoming Pixies as though they were made of rags, discarding them as they challenged her. She crushed them between her wings and choked them with her delicate grasp, arms outstretched, she moved with grace like the battle was no more than a dance she knew well. Spiral’s hair ruffled across his face in the wind, heaving it away he watched the Fairy’s every move.
“But where did she come from? Who is she?” Spiral asked.
“Her name is Nella, and I saved her.” Hue said, looking up at her proudly, “In doing so we created the most powerful Chromatic Fairy.” Pixies and rubble fell from the skies, chunks of the school smashed to the grounds as the dragons whipped and lashed around the school, fire scorching the stone and killing the ancient trees as the battle raged on. Nella fought each opponent with ease until Spiral spotted a figure that filled him with fear. Sorrono’s cloak ruffled in the airwaves as he rose to his challenger, his mechanical wing balancing him with grace. Spiral tugged himself from Dr Hue, pulling his arm from his clutch.
“I can’t! Look!” Spiral said, turning away from Sorrono and Nella, as they circled one another.
“She’ll be fine! We must go, we must go now!” Dr Hue pleaded trying to pull Spiral once more.
“No! I Can’t let him get hurt! They say he’s the other half of me! Sorrono, after all this time, now he can be seen, they tell me he’s my brother! I can’t leave him to die!” Dr Hue looked bemused.
“A twin? Who told you, your parents?” Spiral nods, “A half Fairy and half poisoned Pixie, how did he ever survive?” Dr Hue rubbed his scalp in astonishment. “And you, no trace of Achrom or Pixie?” Spiral shook his head, his wings lapping gently in the wind. Dr Hue looked up at Sorrono before concluding.
“Nella is empathetic, if there is good in him, she will sense it.” Spiral felt little comfort from Dr Hue’s thoughts. Anger flared in Spiral as he stepped back again.
“There is good in him, I know it, he's been nothing but loyal to parents who used and abused him. And to me, he has always been kind, even though I had everything he deserved.” Spiral's head dipped as he looked at the wreckage on the floor, “I’m not a Pixie and that means he is not and I owe it to him to try to make our father see there’s another way for him to feel whole again! Like Nella, you can cure my father!” Spiral’s pleas were drowned out as dragon roars filled the skies.
“If you go… no, Spiral, if you don't come with me! The Fairies will see you as a betrayer! I will know the truth but they will think otherwise.” Spiral smiled a small smile before flying back to the school, looking at the array of mechanical parts that were scattered amongst ash piles.
Dr Hue looked back at Nella and Sorono - there was no stopping the battle as they both smashed one another off the school’s walls, the Guardians entwined and twisted around one another as they set fire to the skies. The Pixies started to falter and retreat with every breath and swipe they took as the battle was now too big for the Pixies to face.