Star Fairy Chronicles III

Chapter 1

Part I

(A few months after Nova's defeat)

Everyone gathered around the table as they celebrated Artemis's 19th birthday.

"Happy birthday my prince," Percy told him. Artemis smiled warmly.

"Thanks," he replied, "So, what do you guys all have planned for me today?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go on a nice picnic in the woods," Blue suggested, "I have everything planned for it. What do you say?"

"That sounds fun," Artemis replied.

"Can we eat the cake first?" Emile asked, "It looks so delicious." His mouth began to drool as the others snickered.

"Sure," Blue replied, "We can have the cake first." Percy looked and watched the others partake of the cake. Seeing this happiness brought back terrible memories of his past. Everyone there was so bubbly and filled with personality, except for him.

"You must be proper and show no emotion," words whispered in his head.

"No!" he shouted, "It's not true!" Everyone stopped and turned to Percy.

"Percy?" Layla asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Percy lied, "Just don't worry about it." Layla raised an eyebrow.

"There's no need to lie to me," she replied, "Anyway, go have some cake. Maybe that will help."

"Alright then," Percy responded. As he went to grab a slice, he pondered those words.

"Why are these memories coming back to me?" he thought, "Maybe they're trying to tell me something." Layla walked over to Rosie.

"Wasn't that a bit out of character for Percy?" she asked her quietly.

"It's definitely suspicious," Rosie replied, "You should keep a close eye on him to see if anything else happens."

"Understood," Layla responded.

...

After a bit of walking, Blue found a nice spot in the shade to set up the picnic in Ebott Forest. She put down the blanket and got everything out of the basket. The others sat down and enjoyed the cool breeze and sunshine.

"You know?" Artemis began, "This has been the best birthday I've had in a long time. Thanks for making it special for me."

"It's my pleasure," Blue replied with a smile, "We normally don't celebrate birthdays on Stardome because we live a very long time."

"That's unfortunate," Artemis said, "Birthdays are a lot of fun."

"I never really found an appeal for them," Elizabeth responded, "I tried it once, but it didn't feel like anything special."

"That's because you didn't have any friends when you celebrated it," Emile smirked, "Next time you throw a party, make sure you ACTUALLY invite people!" Elizabeth twitched her eye.

"Can it Nature Boy!" she shouted back, "Like you have any more friends than me!"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Emile replied, "Every Bravarian saw me as one." Artemis chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny?" Elizabeth asked.

"It's so funny seeing you two argue," Artemis stated, "You almost act like siblings. They always say arguing brings people closer together."

"What?! No way!" Elizabeth and Emile shouted in unison. Artemis laughed harder. Emile and Elizabeth turned to each other with blank looks on their faces.