Plenty had trotted along at a miraculously brisk pace before Claire finally made him stop. It had taken a while for her to realize that her shouts of "Stop!" and "Whoa!" didn't work, but eventually she remembered the command that he obeyed.

Claire looked around and realized that she was far away from Honeyflower, in a completely different area of the forest. "You are fast," she muttered to the horse.

Plenty whinnied in agreement.

"Okay," Claire said quietly, sighing. "What do I do?" She couldn't decide whether to accept Honeyflower's help or to reject it because she was actually Ira. Honeyflower had seemed nice enough, but Claire was still having a hard time thinking the fairy who had cursed her was good.

"But she didn't curse me," Claire reasoned. "When Honeyflower told me about Lumbia, she said that the one in Etherea and the one in my world are opposites. That makes this Lumbia evil. So if my Ira is evil, then this world's Ira--or Honeyflower--is good. And you're good, too. Isn't that right, Plenty?"

The horse bobbed his head.

"They're both good," Claire repeated to herself several times before becoming completely convinced. Sitting up straighter, she grasped Plenty's mane and called to him, "Adventure!"

Plenty began to trot.

"Hold on, Owen. Don't fall off," Claire muttered. The prince, of course, didn't do anything. "Plenty, more!"

The horse sped up.

"More!"

Plenty broke into a swift gallop, dodging between the trees with incredible grace. Claire laughed in delight. "Honeyflower may be Ira," she thought, "but at least she has a magical horse!"

~*~

When Owen woke up, he was in a dark place with a dark sky glowering over him. He looked around in confusion. "This place isn't familiar," he thought. "What did those flowers do to me?"

Something moved in the corner of his vision. "What was that?" It was gone when he turned.

"Hello?" he called, his voice echoing mournfully around him. He could see nothing but fog and blurry shapes hidden within it. Another movement caught his eye, but it was gone before he could blink. "Is someone there?"

Owen started walking forward into the fog with halting steps. He felt like he was being watched, but no matter where he looked he couldn't see anything. There was nothing, nothing but him, the shrouded land, and the heavy silence.

Caw! Owen jumped an inch as a crow burst into the air with a shower of feathers and a piercing cry. It shot over his head and disappeared into the fog. Silence settled around him once again.

A few feet further, Owen saw a dark shape in the haze, which solidified as he drew closer. Sitting on a rock, shoulders hunched and head lowered, was a person hidden within a black cloak.

"Hello," Owen said. The person continued to stare at the ground. "Can you tell me where I am?"

"Why does your voice tremble?" the person asked in a low murmur.

Owen swallowed. "Excuse me?"

"You are afraid. What is it that you fear?"

Owen took a step forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the face under the hood. "I'm afraid because I don't know where I am, and because it's frightening here. Can you help me, or not?"

"What is it that frightens you?" the person questioned slowly. "Is it the silence? The fog? Or perhaps the shadows?"

Something dark flickered out of the corner of Owen's eye. He glanced around briefly before returning his gaze to the cloaked figure. "Shadows?"

"Do you fear the dark, Prince Owen?" The person stood, head turning. Lumbia's silvery eyes glinted beneath the shadowed hood. "Do you fear the shadows?" she whispered, the final word extending into a breathy hiss.

His blood went cold under the icy gaze. The fairy's face twisted, turning black and writhing in a formless cloud. Lumbia was gone, a pulsing shadow taking her place. The eyes remained, turning red and glowing with visions of everything that could be feared.

Owen backed away, too horrified to step carefully. He tripped over a rut in the ground and fell. The shadow rose above him, the empty void of its blackness growing.

"No, no..." Owen whimpered, shielding his face with a quaking hand.

The shadow swept over him.

"NOOO!" His cry echoed through the dark lands.

~*~

Plenty suddenly stopped. One moment he was racing through the forest, and the next he was digging his hooves into the dirt. This sudden movement jolted both of his passengers.

"Oh no," Claire mumbled as Owen began to slide off. She tried to stop him, but he had already gained too much momentum. "Oh dear!" she exclaimed. The prince tumbled from the horse and landed with a thud on the ground.

Claire quickly dismounted to check if he was fine. Once she was sure that nothing was broken, she threw a stern look at Plenty. "Why did you do that?" she demanded.

The horse tossed his mane stubbornly. If he could talk, he would have said, "There was a perfectly good reason, silly!"

Claire was about to start lecturing the horse, just to relieve some of the stress that was building up inside of her, but then she heard a laugh. Then there was another one. She slowly walked toward the clump of bushes that Plenty had stopped in front of, pushed a few branches aside, and peeked through.

There were fairies everywhere. Winged women glowing with gold, pink, green, and every other color imaginable were dancing, running, and lounging throughout the clearing and filling it with their delighted laughs.

"Wow," Claire whispered. She had never seen so many fairies in one place before. She started to step through the bushes but stopped herself. She couldn't know if they were good fairies or bad ones.

A fairy who had been performing a graceful pirouette stopped mid-spin and looked in Claire's direction. "Sisters!" she exclaimed. The others halted in their revels and glanced at the fairy who had spoken.

"What is it, Flora?" a purple-haired fairy asked.

"Someone disturbs the bushes," Flora said. "They tell me she is a human girl."

Claire took a step back.

A fairy with bright eyes and a yellow glow danced over to Flora and peered in the direction she was looking. "A girl? Why doesn't she join us?"

"She probably doesn't want to," a fairy said dismally before slumping against a tree.

"Nonsense!" another cried. "Which bushes, Flora?"

Flora pointed.

A group of fairies ran toward Claire, laughing and calling out to her.

"Hello, human!"

"Come join us!"

"Come on out!" one sang in a beautiful operatic voice.

Claire couldn't escape. The fairies swarmed over her, gasping and giggling. They felt the fabric of her dress, tugged at her hair, and poked her face.

"How are you so pretty?" one asked.

"How can a human be prettier than me?" another pouted.

Claire tried to bat their hands away, but there were too many. "Please stop," she said, straining to raise her voice above the clamor.

"Oh dear, she wants us to stop," a fairy said, stepping away quickly. A few others did the same, but there were some still tugging at Claire's hair.

"Forti, Ruby, Gilda, Artibus, Solya," a fairy called out the names sternly, "Stop annoying the human!"

The last fairies finally stepped away, leaving Claire feeling like she could breathe again.

The purple-haired fairy smiled at her graciously. "Hello, human. I am Chorenne, the leader of these festivities. What is your name?"

"I'm Princess Claire."

"Ooh, a princess," a fairy whispered and reached forward to touch Claire's hair. Another fairy quickly pulled the other's hand away.

"Welcome, Princess Claire," Chorenne continued. "We were having such a wonderful time. Would you like to join us?"

Claire shook her head. She couldn't have any distractions. "No, thank you. I can't. I'm...I suppose you could say I'm on a quest."

"A quest?"

"How exciting!"

"Why does she get to go on a quest?"

"Can you not join us for a day, and then go back to your quest?" Chorenne asked, speaking over the bubbling voices of her companions.

"I'm sorry. I can't. It's very urgent that I--"

"Look, everyone!" a fairy shouted from somewhere else. "She has a horse!" Claire took her eyes off the mob of fairies surrounding her and saw one standing near Plenty, beaming with excitement.

Another fairy broke from the circle and marched over to the horse. "Don't touch him, Fauna! He might be magical."

"Oh please, Mythé!" Fauna exclaimed. "Does he look like a magical horse?"

"Ooh, and look!" another fairy squealed from somewhere else. All eyes turned to her. She was pointing at Owen, who was still slumped on the ground. "There's a young man here, too!"

The fairies pushed past Claire and crowded around the prince.

"What's wrong with him?" one questioned.

Claire tried to break through the crowd, but the fairies were too much for her.

A pale fairy poked him with her toe. "Is he sick?" she whispered timidly.

"Or sleeping?" another chimed in.

"Why doesn't he wake up and join our fun?"

"He's probably dead," said a fairy with a dreary face.

"No, he's not," Claire said with a grunt as she finally pushed through the fairies. She stood firmly between them and Owen. "Please, stay back. He's under a spell, and I need to go on my quest to help him. And it needs to be fast. So please, get out of our way."

The fairies looked to each other in concern. "What curse?" Flora asked.

"A sleeping curse, to be precise!" a blue-eyed fairy suggested.

"Yes," said Mythé, nodding. "The Death Sleep. Is that right, princess?"

Before Claire could respond, a fairy giddy with energy jumped forward. "The Death Sleep! Yes! We can help, can't we sisters?"

A few fairies nodded; others looked confused.

"We are fairies, aren't we? Let's all use our magic to help! Something is bound to work!"

Another fairy nodded, the gigantic bun of pink hair on her head bobbing. "Yes, everyone, we can make this a game! Cast your spells, and whoever can break the curse is the winner!"

Claire was horrified. "Don't you dare!" she exclaimed, holding her arms out protectively. "I already know how to help him! You can't just--"

"Poof!" a fairy exclaimed, shooting a stream of magic at Claire. A moment later she was standing on the outside of the fairy's circle. She started running back toward them, but another fairy aimed magic at her that anchored her feet to the ground.

Claire gasped in frustration. "Why did you do that?" she demanded.

A fairy turned around and smiled at her. "We didn't want you to get in the way of any spells, of course!" she cried. "It could be dangerous!"

"Then won't it be dangerous for Owen?" Claire protested. But it was useless. The fairies had taken their attention off her and devoted it to their curse-breaking competition.

"I'll go first!" the pink-haired fairy said eagerly.

"Why does Amia get to try first?" another fairy grumbled.

"Because she made up the idea," Chorenne said. She nodded at Amia. "Go on."

"Roses are red," Amia started chanting, waving her fingers up and down. "Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet. Wake up, you!" A cloud of pink glitter shot out at Owen. He didn't wake up.

"Oh crumpets," Amia muttered, backing away.

"Next!" Chorenne called.

"No, not next!" Claire shouted, struggling against the magic that bound her.

The fairies weren't listening. One with black hair and heavy, metallic jewelry stepped forward and looked to Chorenne. "Proceed, Forti," Chorenne consented.

Forti lifted her hand high in the air. "Sleep is for the weak. Arise, I say!" A burst of energy shot out of her hand, striking Owen so hard that he flipped over. He still wasn't awake.

"Owen!" Claire cried, mortified. "Please stop, you're going to hurt him!"

"Solya," Chorenne called.

"Rise and shine!" the glowing fairy cried.

"Dolores!"

"You're probably just dead, but...get up...or whatever...."

"Metué!"

"I don't want to try, thanks."

"Manua!"

"Shebang! Wake up!"

The fairies threw every spell they could, creating storm clouds to rain on him, calling wild animals to tug at his hair, and hitting him with all sorts of strange bolts, orbs, and clouds of magic energy. Claire grew frustrated with watching them. She bent down, picked up a rock, and hurled it at the circle of fairies with an angry shout. The stone struck a red-haired fairy in the back of the head, and she fell flat on her face.

The other fairies gasped and stared with horrified expressions, first at the fallen fairy, and then at Claire. "Did you throw that rock?" Chorenne asked breathlessly.

"Release this spell on me now!' Claire demanded, not answering. "And leave us alone! You're making things worse."

The fairy who had frozen Claire's feet to the ground waved her hand, and the princess could move again. She was relieved, but she had other problems. The fairies glared at her menacingly.

"You threw the rock," Chorenne whispered.

"You struck our sister!" the one named Forti cried.

"You will pay!"

Every fairy was focused on Claire, poised to attack.