Makenna, Tracey, and Caleb exited the cave and stepped onto the ledge. A breeze blew through their hair, and they all faced the jungle and ocean.

Makenna was desperate but scared. She gulped.

Tracey nudged her shoulder. "Go on, Makenna, you can do this. Believe that you can."

"Right." Makenna glared and stepped forward.

Behind, Caleb said, "You've got this, Big Sister." He shuffled over to Tracey. They soon stood side-by-side and watched Makenna.

She stopped at the ledge's edge and started to sweat. She peered forward to the continuous jungle and ocean and looked into the sky. Lowering her head, she glanced at her palms. Her necklace pendant faintly glowed.

Makenna looked into the sky again. Then, bending her knees, she threw back her hands, flapped her wings, and boom! She leaped into the sky and started to climb. While climbing, she held her arm out again and clenched her fist and teeth.

Makenna wobbled terribly in midair but was finally starting to get the hang of it. She grinned as she climbed higher. However, when she thought she had it, her wings relocated her route and threw her off course.

"Ahhh!" Makenna yelled. "Help! Help!" Her wings threw her toward Merlindial Falls. As Makenna fell, she shouted, "Tracey's gonna pay for this!" A protection bubble appeared around her, and she crashed into the falls's pool.

From the ledge, Caleb and Tracey gasped. Tracey grabbed Caleb and leaped off the ledge. He flew toward Makenna. "Makenna!"

Makenna's protection bubble appeared at the water's surface. It popped and revealed her. She swam to the surface and leaped out of the pool. Makenna placed her hands on her knees and groaned, stomping her foot. "No! Not again!"

Tracey and Caleb soon landed beside her.

Tracey let Caleb go and approached her. "You almost had it, Makenna."

"I know I did!" Makenna shut her eyes tighter.

"We can try again later if you want," Tracey said.

"Huh?" Makenna's eyes snapped open. "No, Tracey! No!" She pushed by Tracey and marched forward. She peered into the sky again. She was going to give her wings a piece of her mind. She was going to fly, and she was going to fly properly!

Makenna calmed herself. She relaxed her facial muscles and shut her eyes. The wind whistled through her hair.

In a calm voice, Makenna said, "You can mock me all you want, wings, but I won't let you take over my life. I will keep trying until I can fly properly, and you can't stop me. I'm a Metamorphic Fairy."

Her wings sparkled at that last line and perked on her back. Fairy dust escaped them, and Makenna's necklace pendant glowed brighter.

With her eyes still closed, she bent her knees and clenched her fists, placing them on the ground.

"Makenna!" Tracey called. "Wait!"

Makenna kept her fists on the ground. Due to her willpower, small stones picked up and circled each fist. In a low voice, she said, "I believe I can do it." More stones were picked up, and now, dust surrounded her fists.

After a few more seconds, Makenna shot into the sky again, and Tracey and Caleb watched. Fairy dust escaped her wings and created a path.

Gina, who had been patiently waiting for their return, approached Tracey.

He glanced at her and nodded.

Gina nodded back.

Tracey turned to Caleb. "Caleb, I'll be right back. I want to make sure Makenna doesn't hurt herself. Until I return, can you watch Gina for me?"

"Oh, no problem, Tracey." Caleb nodded. "I'll watch Gina."

"Thank you, Caleb," said Tracey.

Gina approached Caleb and landed on his shoulder.

He scratched her under the beak.

Tracey flapped his wings. While he lifted into the sky, he glanced down at Caleb. "Will you be all right?"

Caleb smiled. "Don't worry, Tracey. Right now, help my sister believe she can fly."

"All right," Tracey said. He waved. "See you soon, Caleb." With that line, he, too, shot into the sky and hurried after Makenna.

Caleb waved "Good luck" to him.

***

Makenna shot through the treetops of Merlin's Island's canopy. She flew forward, trying her best to balance herself out.

Tracey also escaped the treetops and watched her.

Makenna was pulled to the left, toward the volcano, but she quickly balanced herself. Hold on, she was doing it!

Tracey clenched his fists. "That's it, Makenna. That's it."

Finally, after what felt like forever, Makenna's wings listened to her. She stopped wobbling and flew as straight as an arrow.

Makenna grinned. She couldn't believe it! She was flying! She was really flying!

Makenna looked to the right and turned correctly. She turned to the right and shot out toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Flying after her, Tracey sped up. "You're doing it, Makenna! You're doing it! Keep it up!"

Soon flying over the ocean, Makenna stooped, arm and clenched fist straight out. She flew across the water, cheering, "I'm flying! I'm really flying!" She soared by dolphins jumping out of the water. Lifting her hand, Makenna rubbed one of the dolphins on the nose.

It seemed to smile.

After rubbing it, Makenna shot toward the stratosphere and twirled around. When she stopped, she stooped back toward Merlin's Island and zoomed across the jungle.

Tracey joined her—he was further up than Makenna—and she glanced at him. "See? It's all about believing you can do it! The wings have accepted you as their master, Makenna! This is your first step in becoming a Soon to Be a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy!"

Makenna laughed and closed her eyes. "Yahoo! This is so much fun! I can't believe I'm flying!"

"I knew you'd love it," Tracey told her. "Come on, let's return to Caleb and Gina." He held his arms close to his wings, stopped flapping them, and glided to the left.

Makenna mimicked him.

Once the two fairies created a straight path for Merlindial Falls, they flapped their wings again and flew side-by-side. They soon soared over Merlindial Falls's pool and peered down at Caleb, who waved at them.

Tracey nodded at Makenna. He stooped, curved his body, and flew over the pool, landing beside Caleb.

Makenna's eyes sparkled. "Wow. I want to try that, too." She stooped toward the pool like Tracey, but her foot hit the water, and she splashed into it.

Caleb and Tracey gasped and hurried toward it.

Tracey shouted, "Makenna, are you all right?" He sweated and took deep breaths.

Caleb rushed before him and glanced at the water, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Makenna! Are you all right?"

Behind him, Tracey reached for his left arm and closed his eyes. The Octopus Man's trident mark reappeared on it. However, like before, it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

Gina hurried to him.

Makenna soon appeared at the pool's surface and lifted her hands. "Yeah!" she cheered.

Caleb laughed. "You did it! You flew! You really flew, Makenna! However"—he chuckled—"you need to work on your landing."

Makenna swam to shore and climbed out of the water, twirling. She approached Caleb and hugged him. She then approached Tracey and said, "Thank you, Tracey! Thanks to you, we can now return to Merlin's Cave and Seabrook Island!"

"Wait, what?" Tracey asked. "Return to Seabrook Island?" Suddenly, he yelled and closed his eyes, collapsing into Makenna's arms.

She gasped. "Tracey! Oh no, I forgot!"

Tracey's eyes were barely open, and he looked frail.

Caleb hurried to Makenna. "Makenna, what's wrong with him?"

"I'll explain later!" said Makenna. "But for now, we must get Tracey back to Merlin's Cave so Merlin can help him!"

"What are you talking about?" Tracey weakly asked. "I feel fine." He got out of Makenna's arms and struggled to his feet.

"Fine?" Makenna asked, glaring. "You're as white as a ghost! Something definitely happened to you out in the ocean! We have to hurry back to Merlin's Cave!"

"What happened?" asked Caleb, baffled.

Tracey's face drooped.

"To answer your question, Caleb," Makenna told her brother, "Tracey and I had quite the encounter with a storm out in the Atlantic Ocean not so long ago, and Tracey's pretty wiped out from it."

"Wiped out?" questioned Tracey. "I'm fine."

"Fine or not," Makenna said, "we still need to get you back to Merlin's Cave so he can at least look at you." She flapped her wings and carefully lifted into the sky. Once lifted, she offered Tracey her hand, and he took it, flapping his own wings. Makenna tugged on him. Whoa, for a seventeen-year-old boy, Tracey was reasonably light. Makenna asked him, "Tracey, why don't you weigh much?"

"Well," Tracey explained, "you see, Makenna, fairies are supposed to be fairly light so they can fly."

Makenna gulped. "Me, too?"

Tracey nodded. "Yes. You see, fairies are a lot like birds." From out of nowhere, he again shouted and closed his eyes.

"Tracey!" Makenna said. "Hang in there!"

Tracey opened his eyes and focused forward.

The two fairies began to fly away, with Gina at their sides, but then they heard Caleb.

"Hey! What about me?"

Makenna peered back and gasped, seeing him still standing on Merlindial Falls's rocks. Quickly, she hurried back down and grabbed his hand with her free one. The second she did, like whenever Tracey took her hand, Caleb was outlined by magic, blue magic, and Makenna pulled him into the sky.

She and Tracey flapped their wings and flew out of the jungle. Behind, the spell Tracey had cast on the waterfall wore off, and it roared to life again.