Hi everyone, SK here.  

Um... I'm not really sure what to say here.  I hope you all had a good week I guess?  Oh- and I'd like to apologize if these chapters seem a bit boring.  Things are going slow now, but more exciting things are coming, I promise... like in this chapter.

(BTW, I'd recommend listening to the music with this chapter- trust me!)

Without further adieu, let's begin.  I hope you enjoy! :)

Valerie

So as it turns out, this place- Colony?- is very easy to escape from.  There are no walls whatsoever, no gates or boundaries to keep everyone contained.  All there is is a point where everything just stops, and that's where the forest begins.  

A light breeze wafts through my hair as I step beyond the edges of the fairies' home.  Last night, when I was running here, I couldn't see anything aside from darkness and perhaps some patches of flowers illuminated by the light from August's wings.  Now, the forest is bright and bursting with beautiful vibrant shades of green.

Dark evergreens and luscious oak and maple trees burst upwards while bushy shrugs spread their branches outwards like big puffy pom-poms.  The grass here still has some remnants of morning dew, even though it's the afternoon.  I can already tell that it's super soft, which makes me wonder if I should take off my shoes and walk with my bare feet on it.  But I don't wanna get them wet.. hmph.

The further I walk into the forest, the more I notice the oddities all around me.  Some parts of this forest are human-sized, which to me now looks incredibly gigantic, while other parts are fairy-sized.  It's a little weird to see, but I suppose it's just the magic of this place doing its work.

Another thing I notice is that there are no Pokemon here at all.  The lack of Pokemon cries creates a dome of silence around this forest, the only sounds being the occasional swaying of tree branches and the leaves that rest upon them.  Well, I guess the gentle sound of piano and violin is also in the air as well.

I stop for a moment and close my eyes, appreciating the serenity of this place.  "It's so peaceful," I murmur to myself.  With a chuckle, I imagine what my friends would be doing if they were here with me; before long, a vision starts to form in my head.

"Watch me climb this tree, Rosa!" Nate says, pointing to one of the human-sized trees.  He grabs hold of the bark and starts to climb it rather quickly.

Rosa sighs as she starts up the tree after him, albeit at a much slower pace.  "You're gonna hurt yourself, get your butt down!" she hollers.

On the ground, Hilda worries about her younger sister.  "She's so reckless... I just hope she doesn't hurt herself."

Beside her, Hilbert puts a comforting arm on her shoulder.  "They both are, but they always turn out fine at the end of the day.  Don't worry about 'em too much, 'kay?"

Hilda smiles and leans her head on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Brendan start to inspect the nearby bushes.  The latter has always loved looking for new scientific discoveries, so landing himself in the world of fairies is probably quite the wonderful experience for him.  His best friend, Ethan, follows behind him; the boy doesn't really like science that much, but he enjoys spending time with Brendan.

"Let's do something fun!" Kris exclaims at the two, looking bored.

Brendan looks up at her, annoyed.  "We're already doing that.  We're exploring, right Ethan?"

Before Ethan can answer, Kris puts on a smirk.  "How about I go and chase you both while you run?" she asks, then bolts at the two boys.  Both of them yelp and run away from the girl.

"Kris is so energetic," Leaf sighs from beside me.  She likes to stick by me through thick and thin, and I appreciate it.  Always have, always will.  If Red were here, maybe she would've went with him, but I don't know.

I hear a pant from behind us and we both turn to see an exhausted-looking Calem.  "Sorry," he says between breaths.  "You guys know I'm not the most athletic of people."

Leaf laughs.  "Well, you're missing Kris being Kris and Nate being Nate."

The tired-looking boy sighs.  "Great, just great.  I'm going to go break up whatever stupid things they're doing before something bad happens," he says, winking at me before walking off into the distance.

Leaf shoves me.  "You couldn't do wrong with him, you know."

I shrug.  "I guess...?  But there's another boy that I've got my sights on," I tell her.  "His name is-"

I hear a strong gust of wind that shocks me into opening my eyes; my earlier vision fades quicker than the sun at sunset.  I let out a fond sigh as I think of my nine closest friends.  They're all so unique and amazing in different ways.  I love them to pieces; I consider them to be my family.  That's what they are to me: my family.

Another thought passes my mind; what if I truly am not allowed to leave the Colony?  I'll never be able to see them again.  

I suddenly feel like crying.  More gusts of wind whip at my ears, the wind getting stronger by the minute.  Perhaps it's just a windy day, but the sereneness of this forest is beginning to fade away.

Picking up the pace, I start walking again.  Was this a bad idea?  I can still hear the music, but it's beginning to fade.  Why did I want to come into this forest so damn much?  Just for music?  Was I really that dumb?  

I look behind me, and of course I don't see any clear path I need to take to get back to the Colony.  I just have to stay out here until the twins come to get me.

Trying to regain my earlier feelings, I take some slow steps forward, admiring the scenery; well at least I try to anyway.

I approach a small clearing that has a small pond in the middle of it, surrounded by some fairy-sized trees and bushes.  It's a bit jarring to see no fish Pokemon swimming inside of that pond, or no bird Pokemon singing in the trees.  The wind has caused some ripples in the water-

I feel something hit into my face; turning in that direction, I catch the blue morning glory flower that was the culprit.  It's a beautiful flower, truly.  Near the base of a tree, I spot a bush of morning glories growing up the bark.  Because it's the afternoon now the flowers are beginning to close and die.  Each day, the bush produces new flowers that bloom at dawn.  At noon, they close and die, never to bloom again while new flowers are produced.  A beautiful cycle.

I wish I could think about that.

All I can think about is the morning glories growing on the trellis outside my house, the one that connects to the bathroom window.

The bathroom window I had to climb out of last night. 

I remember cowering there, holding Nombles close to me.  Fists were pounding on the locked door, shaking the entire house.  By then, the party guests had left.  Everyone had gone.  

I was so stupid.  So, so stupid to think that that plan would have worked.  Well, maybe it would've if that man hadn't come home from the club early.  I could tell that he had too much to drink that time; maybe the bouncers had kicked him out.

I think I invited the entire senior class to my house.  My plan was perfect.  I know that crowd, they're not the most responsible people- with the exception of my friends of course.  I had drinks, spiked of course, out and everything, and everyone knew, wanted, yearned to get buzzed.  Everyone was going to get drunk and tear apart my house, and it would've been beautiful.  That man would've come home to his house completely destroyed.  Of course, he would've been very angry at me, but August was going to show up and use magic to revert everything back to normal, and erase his memories of the night too.

It would've been my perfect little bit of revenge for all the times that he's hit, hurt, and abused me mentally and physically; I would've gone without consequences too, and I could've gotten away with it...

... if my dad didn't come home early.

August hadn't arrived yet.

He cleared everybody out of the house pretty quick, and he was bursting with a fury I hadn't seen in him before.  I quickly got Nombles, who was still a Snom at that point, and hid in the bathroom, but I heard when he fired the gun.  A warning shot.  At the time, I didn't even know he owned it.  I knew that I needed to escape that house, he would've found me and killed me eventually if I didn't.

Luckily, the bathroom windows could unlock and open completely.  I did it silently, even with him banging on the door.  I crawled out, with Nombles on my head, and climbed as quickly as I could down the trellis.  The only bad thing was that I have horrible climbing abilities and I felt down half way through.  I didn't hurt myself too bad, but it was enough noise to tell my father that I was now outside the house.

I would've ran over to Leaf's house, but it was too far away.  Being blinded by terror I just ran into the forest.  I could hear the gun firing out behind me.  At one point, he came close, but Nombles suddenly evolved and blew him away temporarily with a strong Icy Wind.  

I continued running, knowing he was following me.  I figured by now that August was on his way, so I screamed out his name desperate for anything, anyone to save me from that hell.  I saw a little light heading toward me and I turned to see a bullet about a foot away from my face.  

Suddenly there was this whoosh, I can't really describe it, and then I was fairy-sized and seeing August's face for the first time.  Despite my situation, I blushed at him.  I still remember what he said, with a smirk on his face:

"Like what you see?"

Then, because of August's wings, the man spotted us.  We started running from him, which was easier because we could fit into the tiny spaces between bushes.  Then, he said that he could bring me somewhere safe, and opened a freaking portal.  My dad had caught up with us, but August practically shoved me into the portal.  He appeared a second later, and the portal closed.

That night is going to give me trauma for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, I hear a noise behind me.  Am I imagining it or...?

I see a dark figure appear behind me.

Oh hell no.

I scream and start running, but it chases me.  I'm hallucinating.  I'm hallucinating I'm hallucinating I'm hallucinating-

"You can't get away from me that easily."

Eyes shaking, I run faster, tearing through bushes and whatever else stands in my way.  The gruff, cruel voice of my father taunts me, cackles at me as I run faster and faster.  The music gets louder, but my mind isn't focusing on that.  It's getting closer.  It's going to kill- I'm going to, I'm going to die-

I try to breathe but it's like all the oxygen has disappeared.  The green of the forest starts to fade to grey, but the colour returns shortly after.  Only this time, it isn't green.  It's red, a beautiful crimson red.

The figure gets closer.

The music picks up.

And closer.

The piano soars.

I run faster.

The violin's notes fill the air.

And faster.

The two sounds swirl around each other.

But not fast enough.

I burst through the bushes and practically run into the blue-suited fairy with a violin.  My head slams right into his chest and he falls backwards with a small and surprised oof.  My inertia pushes me forward and I end up falling on top of him.  The music instantly stops and I hear some voices that bring me back to reality, the pleasantly green reality of the forest.

Oh.  So the fairy I knocked over was Heliux.

Oh my Arceus I KNOCKED OVER THE FAIRY SECOND IN COMMAND-

"Oh my goodness I am so so so sorry, are you alright?" I instantly ask as I push myself back up.  I offer my hand out to him but he declines, standing up by himself.

Before he can do anything I instantly pick up his violin and bow, thrusting it to him.  "Please, take these.  I am very sorry for knocking you over," I reiterate without looking at his face.  Is he mad?  Oh please please please I hope he is not mad.

The Minister takes the bow and the violin from my hands and speaks.  "Valerie, I accept your apology, although I do not know why you are apologizing."  Huh?   I look up as he sets the the two things on the piano bench, where the pianist is clearly not.

"But I knocked you over-"

"You clearly weren't looking where you were going," starts Layra from behind me, so I whip around to face her.  "Because you were frightened."

I don't know what to say to these two.  "I- um-"

Layra's eyes glow bright purple while Heliux walks to stand beside her.  He gives be a gentle look with concerned eyes.  "If something was troubling you, we can help you deal with it.  So tell me Star-"

He freezes, and so do I.  The Dark fairy's eyes return to normal as she begins to turn the situation around.

"This isn't a conversation we should be having right now," she says quickly.  "How about we go back to the Colony, calm down, and we-"

"No."  My voice is firm and clear.  "I want to do this now.  Please."

Please.

Both fairies look at each other, then back at me, and the wind is picking up in my ears again.  There's only wind, nothing else this time.  No music to save my sanity.

"Someone overheard some of your conversation today.  You said my eyes looked just like Star's.  August and Verity said that they knew that the Queen has a friend named Star, but now you've just called me Star.  Please, please explain what is going on to me."

Heliux looks shocked, then clears his throat.  "Yes, Her Majesty does have a Soldier named Star; but we were not talking about her.  We were talking about Star... our Starshine."

Layra finishes his thought.  "Star was the name we gave to our firstborn daughter."

I can feel my heart pounding like a bass drum in my chest as my entire world seems to freeze around me.

"What...?"

Heliux begins to look a little uncomfortable, but he continues.  "Valerie, we are most positive that you are our daughter.  That would make us your real parents."

The only sounds I can hear are heartbeats and wind.

"But how are you so sure?" I protest, without knowing why I'm protesting.  They seem like good people.  But why would they send me away?  Obviously I did not grow up here, with the rest of the fairies.  Wait... does that mean I'm a fairy?  Because my parents are fairies?  My head begins to hurt as I attempt to process all of this.

"Valerie, no one has eyes like yours.  Purple with gold?  Look at us," Layra says, and I really look at them for the first time.  Purple eyes.  Gold eyes.  "And our baby had brown hair.  Her smile... oh, her smile was wonderful, and Valerie, you have that smile."

Heliux speaks up, probably noticing my pale face.  "Valerie, are you alright?"

Too many thoughts swirl around my head.  My head hurts.  My heart hurts, it's beating too fast.  The wind rushes at my ears, faster, faster, faster- it's too fast.  It's too fast.  Make it stop, make it stop-

"MAKE IT STOP!"

Then, everything does stop.

I can only hope someone is there to catch me as I fall backwards, no closer to flying.

...

Okay.

So.

Valerie is Heliux and Layra's daughter.

I know a lot of you suspected it from the beginning and yes in hindsight I did make it very very obvious (oops past me).  But I hope you're happy to hear this!!  I know I'm happy to have the truth finally be out.

That's it for today.  I hope you enjoyed the chapter!!  Stay tuned for more. :)