Fantasia

Chapter 9

Early next morning, as Sir Smallface had suggested, they took off to the Mermaid Bay. The flight was rather silent, for some reason, but Vicky tried her best to start up a conversation.

'You know, that was rather kind of Sir Smallface to give us the coin. That saves us from going to the goblin kingdom.' Ellie eagerly joined in. 'oh, I was definitely not looking forward to going to the goblin garage, actually. I've read all about them, and they are the most repulsive things ever.' Vicky raised an eyebrow at Strokes instead of Ellie, since he had the goofiest grin on his face.

'Now what happened to you?' she asked, which snapped Strokes out of his trance.

'Oh, it's nothing. I just remembered, Ivy said she had gone to meet her friend Pearl.'

Vicky's eyebrow went higher. 'How do you know that?'

'Oh, she sent me a paiage.'

'A paiage?'

'It's a paint message, so you paint the picture of the person you want to see, toss one coin in, and you'll see that person in front of you. It's a kind of way paint elves or paint elf-fairies communicate with each other.'

'Oh, right.'

They reached the mermaid bay, and slipped down from the backs of the pegasi, letting them fly freely.

'So,' Ellie said, rubbing her arms together, 'how do we find Ivy and her friend, pearl?' Strokes simply pulled out a paintbrush and painted a picture in the air. The picture was of a 14-year-old girl with a sap green braid over her shoulder, brown eyes, very similar to Strokes', a pair of semi-transparent wings, pointy ears and a kind smile. Her eyes had a kind of bossy look in it, and immediately, Ellie and Vicky knew that they were seeing Strokes' sister, Ivy. Strokes tossed a coin into the picture, and the picture came to life.

Ivy' eyes grew wide. 'Strokes! I haven't heard from you for so long! Wait; are you in the mermaid bay? Wait a sec, I'm coming up.' before Strokes could say anything, the connection went.

He turned to Ellie and Vicky, who were standing behind him, with an exasperated sigh.

'That's my sister. Come on; let's sit for sometime, she'll be coming up in a moment.' And with that, he sat down, his legs in the water.

The mermaid bay wasn't exactly like a beach, but kind of like a pool. The land cut off the edge and it was about a few inches before the water touched the land.

Ellie and Vicky joined him, and they sat on his right. After a few moments, Ellie could see something sap green coming up towards Strokes. As it got closer, it turned out to be the top of a head, and she nudged Vicky and pointed to it. Vicky opened her mouth to speak, but the person looked up at them and put a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet. She crept up to Strokes' feet, and tickled them.

Strokes wiggled around, barely able to contain his laughter. The girl pulled Strokes by his feet, and he went right into the water. Ellie and Vicky were practically crying from laughing so much.

After a moment or so, Strokes came out of the water, gasping for air. He was pulled in again, but he managed to fight it. He came up again, and this time, a 14-year-old girl came up with her. She looked exactly like the picture Strokes had painted, and they knew they were seeing Ivy.

'Ivy! Why did you do that?' Strokes yelled, and Ivy giggled. 'That's basically Strokes saying hello to his 14-year-old sister after a long time.' She told Ellie and Vicky matter-of-factly, and they hauled them up to the shore.

Ivy was able to dry herself and Strokes with her paintbrush, and after she was done, she tackled him with a hug.

She certainly was a head taller than Strokes, though. 'Oh you stupid elf, you always forget to paiage me. Next time you do that, I swear I am never going to see you again.' Nevertheless, she was still smiling widely. Strokes rolled his eyes and they all sat down for a picnic that Ivy had conjured up out of nowhere.