Hi everyone!  SK here.

So Valerie is Initiated, she is going to be the next Queen, and her adoptive dad is dead but the only people who are aware of this are Heliux and Layra.  That'll get you all caught up, XD.

Anyway, without further adieu, let's begin.  I hope you enjoy this chapter~!

Valerie

I wake up feeling a bit groggy as I sit up.  My attempt to hold on to those last few moments of sleepy blissfulness fails as memories of last night begin to return to me.  Honestly, I still can't believe that I'm a fairy.  I'll admit that I'm still slightly denying the fact that I'm supposed to be the next Queen.

Queen?  Me?

Who would've thought?

I'm a nobody.

I slide off the bed, doing a quick stretch before I start to get ready.  Layra and Heliux are going to start my magic training today.  They explained last night that they were going to do a quick fairy history lesson, and then they would teach me how to do basic fairy things, like how to channel magic and how to fly and yadda yadda yadda.  I initially questioned whether we would be able to get all of those things done in a day, but they assured me that magic asserts itself in fairies very quickly.

At least I get to see Nombles again today somehow, so that's a plus.  I really miss her.

I shiver as I think of what I'm supposed to do tomorrow; I'm supposed to see her to begin my "Queen Magic Training".  I've never met this Queen in my life but I really hope she can clear lots of things up for me.

Heading for the door, I briefly glance at my new room before I leave for breakfast.  Since I'm in a position to be the new Queen, it puts me at a position that is similar to August and Verity's.  My temporary room- I say temporary because I've noticed that this mysterious Queen isn't here, so when I take her place I'll probably have to leave the Colony- is on the same floor as the twins'.  I'm actually passing August's room as I walk down the hallway, then down the stairs.  

Glancing at the walls as I continue my travels, I notice that the roses have shriveled slightly today.  Hmm, I wonder to myself, what could have caused them to lose their purity?

I reach the outside, taking in a giant gulp of early morning air and reveling in both its chill and freshness.  It feels weird not to be getting ready for school, and I desperately want to run back there and reassure my friends that I'm okay and perfectly safe.  I know that if I try, I'll most definitely get in trouble.

Perhaps I can ask the Queen about it later; if I'm her supposed understudy, maybe she can squeeze some things in for me...?

"Good morning," says a warm voice, and to my surprise the almost-happy tone comes from Heliux.  I turn to see him approaching me, and I have to desperately try and pretend that this interaction is normal.  "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," I reply coolly, nodding my head up and down.  "Thank you for asking."

"Oh, you do not have to thank me for that," he says, almost sheepishly so.  "It is my job to make sure you are well, Your Majesty."

I gape at him.  Your Majesty?  "I... um, I'm not Queen yet," I remind him, wanting to reinstate the facts.  That was really weird, why did he do that?

"Yes, that is true," he admits.  He stares at me with those amber eyes of his and continues.  "However, you will be crowned soon; you should get used to the title, no?"

"I suppose," I mutter back at him.  Trying to stay on course, I try to recall what he told me yesterday.  "You mentioned that you'd give me a small history lesson today?" I check as soon as my memories come into focus.

He nods, looking mildly surprised at my quickness to take the driver's seat of this conversation.  "Yes, I did.  Are you not hungry though?"  He does have a point; you just woke up and haven't eaten breakfast.

Still, I shake my head.  "It's a little early," I admit.  "Plus, I don't really eat breakfast that often on school days anyway, I usually don't have the time.  It's alright," I repeat when I see him about to speak up again.  "I'm fine.  Unless you're hungry?" I ask, quickly switching the question back around to him.

He shakes his head.  "No, I'm perfectly alright," he says.  "Let us fly to the Library, shall we?"

I'm taken aback at this statement.  "F-Fly?" I stutter out.  Is he crazy!?  I just became a fairy yesterday, I don't know how to fly properly yet!

"Yes, fly," he replies rather calmly.  "You're going to have to learn some time, you know.  It's very easy."

That's easy for you to say, I think indignantly.  You've been doing it for apparently billions of years.  

"I'll show you," he says patiently.  "You need to have immense amount of focus; you will apply this concept to your magic as well.  Imagine the feeling of the wind rushing with you like a river's current, the sight of trees and oceans thousands of feet below you.  Your wings will get the message and will start to work, like this."  His wings start to gently beat back and forth, causing Heliux to hover slightly above the ground.  "From there, it is mostly about navigating air currents; but fairy wings are special, they are magical after all.  They will automatically help to stabilize you."

The Minister flies up higher, hovering at at least five times my current standing.  "Come on," he says with a slight air of impatience to his tone.  "We have much to discuss."

I stare blankly up at him, my heart pounding.  I don't want to do this I don't want to do this I don't want to do this.

Heliux must recognize the signals for he flies a little lower, stretching out his arm to me.  "I am right here," he says kindly.  "Just fly, and if something happens I'll grab hold of you; if that fails, be rest assured that my magic will stop any harm from coming to you."

Gulping, I nod.  He's right; if I'm going to fly eventually, might as well learn now.

I take a deep breath.  Here it goes.

Starting off, I close my eyes.  Heliux said I need to focus, and I do that best if I don't have any visuals to distract me.  I stand there for a few seconds and watch the images flow against the backs of my eyelids, images of hypothetical happenings.  Focus on flying.  I try to picture what it would feel like flying, how it would feel to have the freedom of a bird Pokemon and how it would be to look down at the world... and then my mind shifts to a new thought.

I imagine what it would be like to fly with August.  To fly with him, to be with him, to freely be in love with him.

Suddenly, I feel a surge of adrenaline as I begin to feel weightless.  I quickly open my eyes to find myself rapidly shooting upwards, my wings fluttering way too fast for what I'm capable of doing.  I'm about to yell out to Heliux but he has already noticed.  He grabs my right wrist speedily, staring at me intently.  "Valerie, you need to calm yourself.  Your wings will flutter at a speed which matches your energy levels."

Right... right.  I take a deep breath and remind myself that as long as August remains unwilling to see the potential of our relationship moving to a different level, that event of flying with August isn't going to happen.  It makes me a little sad, but it definitely helps to dull the speed of my wings.

"Phew," I say as my wings reach a similar speed to his own.  "Thanks for grabbing on to me."

He nods, both of us still floating high above the ground.  "Of course."

A few more seconds pass of awkward silence, and I have to be the one to break it to him.  "Um, you can let go now.  I think I'm alright."

Heliux quickly recoils his hand, wincing slightly.  "Of course, my apologies."  He turns behind him and starts to fly in a direction- east I think?- and stops a few feet ahead to wave me over once he notices I haven't moved.  "Follow me."

I nod and he continues forward with me following at a slight distance behind him.  As someone who has had wings for the grand total of less than twenty four hours, I can tell you, dear readers, that flying is super weird.  It has the potential to be fun once you've learned it, but I'm still super new so this experience is just a confusing one, not an exciting one.  I do appreciate the feeling of the wind rushing against my face though, that's nice.  It reminds me of when I used to purposely ride my bike up, and then down of course, the big hills near my town for some exercise before I opened up my bakery for the day.

I pause.  Valerie, you're almost eighteen years old, you do not own a bakery.  Heck, you don't even own a high school diploma.

I think that's the worst part at becoming a fairy now out of all times.  I'm still at a point in my life where I'm still working toward one big thing.  Now that I'm a fairy, I don't have anything to show for my human life other than tales of a crazy bunch of people who I will miss until my dying breath.

Heliux lands at the library that we visited together yesterday, gesturing for me to do the same.  I take a deep breath and consciously think about landing to give my unconscious a little hint that I would like to stand on the ground again.  Thankfully, my wings seem to listen to me this time and I feel myself slowly floating, although to me it feels like falling, downwards.  

"So, how was your first flight?" he asks absently as he opens the door.

I shrug.  "Actually, not as bad as I thought it would be."

He looks back at me.  "Oh?"  The door opens and the both of us head inside the dark space.  "How did you think it could go wrong?"

"Well to be completely honest, I thought I'd just fall flat on my face."

The Minister chuckles quietly to himself as he glances over the railing.  I start to head toward the staircase, the same one we took yesterday, but a hand grabs my wrist, stopping me in place.  Turning back to face Heliux, I give him a blank "what?" look.  He simply climbs over the railing and hovers over the gaping hole in the middle of the library.

Now I remember that the floors of the library are giant ring shapes, so the center of the space is a giant tunnel that leads right to the bottom.

I gulp, knowing what we're about to do.

"Come," he says.  "Trust me, this is easier and definitely faster than taking every single flight of stairs down to the bottom floor."

We're going to the bottom.  "Alright," I say, knowing he can pick up in the hesitance in my voice.  I focus my mind and hover up again, joining Heliux overtop of the hole.  Looking down, I can see that the light decreases the deeper the floors are, so it feels like I'm about to fly into an endless abyss.

"Well, let's go," Heliux says, zooming down at the speed I think matches an airplane.  Arceus he can fly fast.  I pause for a few seconds, summoning my courage, then fly down after the Minister.  At first it feels like I'm on a rollercoaster, whizzing past books and tables and other fairies who happen to be lounging about.  The more I feel the air rush past me the bigger my adrenaline surge gets.  I smile, this is actually fun.  

Faster, I tell my wings, who happily oblige my request and flap at quicker and quicker speeds.  My hair is now all over the place, but for once I don't care about that and oh no, the ground is approaching, I can see it, it's coming too fast, I don't have time to slow down, I-

- hit the ground, head first.  

"St- Valerie, are you alright?" Heliux asks, and my head is spinning too much to pay attention to his little slip-up.  Thankfully my wings have stopped, and I try to sit up on my knees as the Minister crouches beside me.  The pounding pain pulses through my hand as I touch it to my forehead, and I wince slightly.

"I'm fine," I say, but of course it is not convincing in the slightest.  The Light fairy summons some blue glowing magic in his hands, and after a few seconds it transforms into an ice pack and a towel.  He quickly wraps the cold pack in the towel and hands it to me.  

"This will help," he says earnestly, gesturing for me to take it.  I do, gratefully so, and press it to my head.  A lovely cooling sensation spreads through me, beginning to numb my injury.  "I'll give you a small lesson; this is just to inform you of course, it is not like you will be tested.  This is not school.  After, I'll heal you all up and Layra will join us to teach you about your special abilities."

"Why not now?" I protest.  

"Unless it's severe, it's better to let the body mend itself slightly first.  There is always a risk with healing spells that the body will depend on them to heal it and not depend on itself; so unless it is a severe life-or-death matter, we always wait a little while."

"Okay," I say absently, acknowledging his words.  I guess they make sense.

"So, are you ready to learn about fairies?" he asks me, standing up and gesturing for me to do the same.  It's almost pitch-black in here but there's a small table and set of chairs nearby that I spot.  The Minister gestures for me to sit down and I do, wondering how he's going to teach me when we can barely even see each other.

"I guess so?" I answer, my voice hiking up at the end from slight excitement.  A slight wave of nostalgia hits me as I remember my friends, my friends who would love to be here and hear this for themselves.

"Alright.  Close your eyes, and open them when I instruct you to," he orders.  I nod and do as told.  I'm very good at that, following directions.  That man whipped me up into shape pretty well... both kinds of whipping.

A bright flash of white hits my eyelids, and shortly after, I hear Heliux tell me to open my eyes.  I do, and am immediately amazed.  Little speckles of light fill the air, hanging still like icicles.  They rotate slowly, changing colour slightly as they do.  I reach out my hand to touch one in awe, but the tiny crystal disappears before I can feel it.  Glancing toward Heliux, I see him smile slightly, illuminated by the bright light of the light crystals.

"Are you ready?" he asks again.

Well, there's only one reasonable answer here.  "Yes."

"Excellent."

Yes this chapter, I'll admit, was a bit short- but I can promise that the next chapter will be more exciting for sure!  

This chapter won't be coming out until the first week of December (this is SK writing on the first Friday of November here), but as of now I've been very busy with school.  I mean by the time that this chapter gets published I'll be in my easy quad so I'm hoping I'll have more time on my hands.  

Future SK Edit: I wish I had more time on my hands.

Anyway that's it from me for today.  See you guys at next week's update!